


I took a heavenly ride through our silence, I knew the waiting had begun

by endofdaysforme, TopazGotTheJuice



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Maria made a joke about toni dying so ha ha we wrote a fic, sue me riverdale writers, toni has a long lost relative because if Veronica can have one so can she
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:42:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23031139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endofdaysforme/pseuds/endofdaysforme, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TopazGotTheJuice/pseuds/TopazGotTheJuice
Summary: cheryl and toni, too busy groping and pushing and pulling against each other, and even the kids in the nightclub with the music so loud, don’t hear the sound of pop tate screaming at them from the restaurant above.they just hear a loud boom, feel a rush of heat, and suddenly-everything is falling apart around them.--the kids of riverdale high graduate, and begin to plan the rest of their lives. but tragedy strikes, and suddenly, everything changes.--aka the writers won’t give toni any family, so we are.
Relationships: Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz
Comments: 57
Kudos: 343





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Bree and I are collabing again. HERE'S A CHRONOLOGICAL TIME OF EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CHAOS OF THIS FIC BEING MADE. 
> 
> https://twitter.com/endofdaysforme/status/1228499576874655744?s=20  
> https://twitter.com/topazgotjuice/status/1228500373117263872?s=20  
> https://twitter.com/endofdaysforme/status/1234215482128916480?s=20  
> https://twitter.com/endofdaysforme/status/1235021841271361537?s=20  
> https://twitter.com/choniblopaz1/status/1235021895864430593?s=20
> 
> COOL. Now that that's out of the way!
> 
> WELCOME TO OUR FIC. IT'S GONNA BE REALLY SAD AND DEPRESSING BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T BE A BREE/MARIA COLLAB IF IT WASN'T, RIGHT?! 
> 
> also the writers are paying toni dust and we're both sick of it, and after watching 'Birds Of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn', I (Maria), realized that... 'hey...Jurnee Smollett-Bell would be AMAZING as Toni's sister!"
> 
> behold...now this fic is here. 
> 
> so yes, it's sad, but also, Toni has a backstory! and a sister! because THE SERVE OF HAVING JURNEE SMOLLETT-BELL AS TONI'S SISTER IS TOO HIGH TO IGNORE. 
> 
> anyway, we hope you like this! please leave a comment letting us know what you think! there will be three chapters, so hold onto your buns, loves! we're in for a ride!

it was supposed to be a day like any other. 

  
it wasn’t supposed to end like this. 

  
in chaos. in devastation.

  
in death.

  
it began easily enough. 

  
with graduation. 

  
the 2020 class of riverdale high began their day thinking it would be the first of the rest of their lives, free of the responsibility of school work, of growing up...of having to slug through the torture of high school for the rest of their lives.

  
they began their day thinking they were finally free. 

  
that today would be the first day of a new beginning. 

  
they were right…but also so very wrong. 

  
but they walk across that stage and they get their certificates, and they’re all smiling and laughing and enjoying these few moments of peace and tranquility in a town that is nothing but destruction and murder, all of them with a sense of such accomplishment because they’ve done it. 

  
they’ve survived. 

  
they actually survived.

  
it’s at pop’s infamous diner where it happens. 

  
it’s an after graduation celebration, with everyone gathering at pop’s for dinner before they eventually retire downstairs to veronica lodge’s nightclub that used to be a speakeasy, a place where they can let off some steam, have some drinks and dance the night away.

  
their bellies are as full as their hearts, and jughead jones, veronica lodge, betty cooper, archie andrews, kevin keller, fangs fogarty, reggie mantle, cheryl blossom and toni topaz all sit at a booth downstairs in the nightclub, clinking their drinks and celebrating a job well done. the club is absolutely packed with their peers around them, and veronica can’t help but be smug at how business is booming as she shares a high five with her business partner, who is practically sat on top of her girlfriend’s lap with a grin on her face all the same. 

  
they all feel it. that rush of excitement, that knowledge that they’ve accomplished something amazing here.

  
but of course, the writer is the one to verbalize it. 

  
“well, we did it! despite the murders and the serial killers and the bear attacks and juvie sentences and...a fuckton of other terrible things...we graduated high school mostly unscathed!” jughead jones cries out with a grin and his beanie atop his head slightly askew, something that archie quickly swipes off his head and clutches between his fingers.

  
“alright, that’s it, you’ve had this since you were a kid and you’re not a kid anymore, jones! time to burn it!” archie hollers, grinning at the loud cheers from around them as jughead moves to snatch it back.

  
“hey, no way! that’s symbolic of my journey from outcast to more socially accepted outcast!”

  
“it’s lame, jughead.” toni says with a roll of her eyes, chuckling as cheryl tilts her head and observes a now beanie-less jughead with wonder.

  
“besides...you look better without it, hobo. very james dean.” she says simply, prompting veronica to nod and point at cheryl in agreement as she takes a sip of her drink.

  
jughead, cheeks flushed slightly, runs his fingers through his hair with a crooked smile as betty kisses his cheek fondly.

  
“they have a point, jug.” she says softly, to which archie crows and lifts the beanie in his hand once more. 

  
“burn it?!” archie smirks, as he swings it back and forth on his finger. 

  
“burn it! burn it! burn it!” everyone around the table starts to chant as jughead bites his lip hesitantly before eventually, he concedes with a loud sigh. 

  
“alright fine!” he agrees and everyone in the group cheers and archie is the first one to stand, hopping over the seat into the booth behind them.

  
“wait, you mean right now?” jughead asks, completely perplexed at how quickly archie manages to jump over the booth. 

  
“hell yeah right now! i’m not letting you back out of this, bro.” archie pats him on the back as he heads up the stairs towards the kitchen, the rest of the group quickly following him despite jughead’s protests. 

  
“guys, wait, i mean, can’t we wait a few days-.”

  
“nope, now! or else you’ll hide it and make sure we never burn it!” archie says firmly, grinning as reggie takes the beanie and raises it to his nose before cringing.

  
“dude, have you ever washed this?” he gags, barely dodging jughead’s swing to the back of his head as he throws the beanie back to archie. 

  
the redheaded boy puts the beanie up to his nose, also taking a whiff, and scrunches his face up at the smell.

  
“ _ew_. yeah man, this thing is ripe!” 

  
“okay, i’ve already agreed to burn it, you don't have to ridicule me in the process,” jughead says as he snatches the beanie away from archie, who immediately snatches it back and laughs.

  
they walk into the kitchen, giving a quick hello to pop tate as they pass him, and everyone huddles around the industrial sink beside the stoves as archie holds the hat over the empty side of the sink. 

  
“jug,” archie says as he holds his other hand out. jughead gives him a pointed look, but sighs and rolls his eyes as he digs into his pocket. he pulls out a black lighter with the serpent logo on it and shakes his head as he slams it into archie’s hand with a huff.

  
“can’t believe i’m actually agreeing to this.” jughead’s statement is ignored as archie chuckles and flicks the wheel of the lighter, sparking a flame.

  
“would anyone like to say a few words?” archie raises his eyebrows as he looks around the semi circle, who all exchange quick glances while jughead just stares at the flame sourly.

  
“to jughead jones’s beanie...may it, uh…” kevin starts, trailing off and looking up at the others before toni clears her throat and shrugs.

  
“may it rot in ashes as it did in smell. amen.” she finishes, grinning as cheryl snorts with laughter. 

  
and with that, archie places the flame underneath the greasy wool and holds it there until the hat catches fire and spreads. archie drops it into the sink quickly and they all watch the flames dance before their eyes.

  
the beanie, oh so infamous for it’s crown shape as it lay atop the head of the boy before them, fades to ash. 

  
betty wraps her hand around jughead’s waist and rests her cheek on his leather clad shoulder. veronica wraps her hand around archie’s bicep and leans into him while cheryl wraps her arm around toni’s shoulder. kevin and fangs share a glance and offer each other a small smile while reggie ruffles jughead’s hair with a laugh.

  
“this really is the start of a new chapter, huh?” jughead sighs as he watches his hat deteriorate, acceptance slowly beginning to seep in. 

  
nobody in the group verbally responds but there’s a silent agreement. none of them expected this moment to be as symbolic as it was. but it was. this really was the start of something new. after making it out of high school, miraculously alive after all of the tragedies that have hit this town, they were starting to realize this would be one of the last moments they would all have together.

  
they just didn’t realize it would be one of the last moments they would all have together... _forever._

  
veronica is the first to break the silence.

  
“alright, enough of this sappy shit. let’s go party!” veronica says and everyone cheers in agreement. archie turns the water on until the beanie is nothing more than burned wisps of fabric, and jughead sighs, but smiles as betty kisses his cheek before they all begin to make their way.

  
but for one of them...something gives them pause.

  
“hey, do you guys smell gas?” toni sniffs, coming to a stop and frowning in concern as the group makes their way out of the kitchen. 

  
it’s quiet for a beat of a second before-

  
“sorry.” reggie jokes, raising his hand and prompting archie to roar with laughter as toni groans and smacks him up the back of the head, none of them any the wiser of just how right toni is as they walk through the restaurant and down to the basement to continue this party properly. 

  
it’s almost eleven when the party finally begins to slowly die down. the nightclub is not as packed as it was at nine in the evening with those who had just graduated from riverdale high, but most of them had left to go to one of the other clubs in greendale, only a few choosing to stay where their hearts are: home.

  
but regardless, the music is pumping, so loud they can feel it the vibrations of the bass in their chests. everyone is dancing so freely, and all of the couples are grinding against each other, dancing rather erotically; even jughead, who definitely does not consider himself the dancing type. hell, just a couple of hours ago he was calling himself an outcast. but here he was. here they all were. dancing like there was no tomorrow. 

  
cheryl and toni were in the middle of it all, swaying and rolling their bodies against each other to the beat of the music. toni’s hands wander over cheryl’s body, fiddling with the hem of her dress as cheryl leans into her touch, back pressed to toni’s front. she tilts her head slightly, allowing the slightly shorter girl to attach her lips to the base of her neck as cheryl smiles and hums under her breath contently. 

  
“you drive me crazy, cheryl blossom.” toni breathes into her ear, and cheryl grins with victory as the hand at her side lifts and curls around the back of toni’s neck. 

  
of course, cheryl and toni make the rather rash decision to go into one of the supply closets not soon after their little teasing session, the two disappearing before anyone even notices.

  
and somehow, that makes all the difference in the world. 

  
because no one knows where they are when the chaos is settled. 

  
no one knows where to find them.

  
cheryl and toni, too busy groping and pushing and pulling against each other, and even the kids in the nightclub with the music so loud, don’t hear the sound of pop tate screaming at them from the restaurant above.

  
they just hear a loud boom, feel a rush of heat, and suddenly-

  
everything is falling apart around them.

  
-

  
cheryl only registers one thing when she wakes up.

  
pain.

  
all over her body, throbbing incessantly, but worst of all, in her shoulder. she bites back a whimper and tries to focus, but the pain is so blinding and it feels like every time she tries to open her eyes, her entire body rejects the notion.

  
she can feel something heavy on top of her, something familiar, but much too heavy to be what she thinks it is, but regardless, she finds herself groaning and attempting to open her eyes to see what it is. she inhales sharply, wincing once at the pain that rattles through her chest when she does, and when she opens her eyes, she sees nothing but darkness.

  
“t-toni?!” she manages to cough out, seething at the pain it causes as the faint sound of screams begins to filter in through the strange ringing sound already flooding her ears. 

  
god, her shoulder hurts so bad…

  
she tries to move her hand, manages to move her right one, and lifts it, but quickly comes into contact with something hard. 

  
wood. it’s definitely wood, what…

  
her eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, and it’s then that she realizes what’s going on. 

  
there’s a gigantic piece of wood, perhaps a wall that was blasted apart, that’s resting right on top of her, practically crushing her body into the ground beneath her, but the wood isn’t making direct contact with her.

  
it’s inches away from her face but it’s not squashing it.

  
no...something is acting as a barrier between her and the piece of debris that with one shift, could probably collapse on top of her completely.

  
and that barrier has pink hair and isn’t moving from where it’s completely on top of her.

  
cheryl feels tears immediately well in her eyes, her right hand desperately trying to move up higher to wrap around toni’s waist, but every single inch she moves causes the wood to shift, and the wood isn’t crushing her, it’s crushing _toni._

  
the love of her life is possibly dying or dead and cheryl can’t fucking _move._

  
“toni!?” cheryl croaks out, gritting her teeth and trying not to scream and cry as toni remains as still as ever on top of her. cheryl can’t see her face, can’t see anything but the top of her matted pink hair and the fact that she hasn’t moved an inch against her since she woke up.

  
“HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!” cheryl finally manages to scream out at the top of her lungs, her tears escaping her and a sob wracking her chest slightly, causing the wood to creak, oh god-

  
“did you guys hear that?!” cheryl hears someone shout from a very far distance, and she whines and draws a quick, but short breath in before-

  
“HELP, PLEASE! ARCHIE!” the wood creaks again, and this time, cheryl <i>feels</i> toni’s body press further into hers, a cry of panic escaping her as she throws caution to the wind and raises her right hand beneath toni’s arm and pushes against the wood as best as she can, trying to relieve it from crushing her girlfriend. 

  
“GUYS, IT’S CHERYL! CHERYL?! WHERE ARE YOU?!” cheryl hears archie scream in panic, and she has no idea how she’s supposed to alert him to where she is without screaming again, something she’s too afraid to do with this goddamn piece of debris pressing further and further against her and toni, god, it must weigh hundreds of pounds, there’s no way it won’t kill them…

  
“HELP!” she screams with the short burst of air she gets before she’s holding her breath to ensure she doesn’t jostle the wood any further, begging, pleading to any god she can think of to get them out of this-

  
“FUCK! GUYS, THEY’RE UNDER HERE, HURRY!” archie’s voice is right beside her now, and cheryl sobs in relief when she hears loud grunts and feels the wood lift a bit off her, but then-

  
the wood presses onto her even harder, the wind knocked right out of her and her arm automatically closing around toni’s waist, a cry of pain escaping her when the wood crushes her arm, fuck, fuck, fuck-

  
“COME ON! ONE, TWO, THREE!” archie roars, and once again, the pressure is elevated off her body, her arm throbbing with pain, but she squeezes her eyes shut and buries her face into toni’s hair, holding her girlfriend close as the wood is finally pulled off of her-

  
and archie andrews’s scraped and bloodied face comes into view, fire and chaos running rampant in a blurred mess behind him. 

  
“cheryl?! fuck, hey, look at me!” his gentle hands grip her face, but cheryl shakes her head against them and holds toni closer to her body.

  
“she’s...the wood...it was crushing her…” cheryl manages to gasp out, and archie’s gaze drops down to toni before his eyes suddenly widen and his face turns very, very pale.

  
“oh fuck…” he breathes.

  
cheryl’s heart stops.

  
“archie...archie, don’t, please don’t…”

  
archie whines and immediately presses two fingers to what cheryl thinks is toni’s neck, and when she sees him let out a sigh of relief, she finds herself sobbing loudly.

  
“she’s breathing, but i don’t think she’s conscious! we gotta get her off you and to the hospital, cheryl!” archie says quickly. cheryl whimpers, feels a few hands on her body before toni’s weight is pulled off her, and she finds herself scrabbling for her girlfriend, hands flailing for her before she feels someone pull her up to her feet.

  
“you’re okay, i’ve got you!” archie breathes, wrapping an arm around her waist and grabbing her non-injured arm to drape over his neck. he drags her along, each movement causing pain to explode up her injured shoulder, but she bares her teeth and glances around the room as her vision slowly begins to settle.

  
fangs is ahead of her, carrying toni in his arms and up the stairs that archie leads them to, and the nightclub…

  
it’s gone. debris is everywhere, but it’s empty at least, which means no one else got hurt-

  
“jesus, cheryl, we’ve been looking for you for almost an hour, thank god we found you.” archie murmurs into her ear. cheryl looks at him in shock, notices now, that the blood on his face is dried, like it’s been there for quite some time now…

  
“wh...what happened…” cheryl manages to get out as archie drags her up the stairs with a grunt.

  
“gas leak...pop’s...it’s all gone…” archie pants out, and cheryl feels her heart drop. 

  
“everyone...is everyone…” it hurts to talk or breathe, and archie grips her tighter before he’s cooing gently at her to soothe her.

  
“hey, hey, don’t focus on that right now, okay? let’s just get you and toni out of here…” he murmurs softly. cheryl nods, her head lulling against him in fatigue as they reach the top of the stairs and exit the nightclub’s entrance.

  
and cheryl’s eyes go wide as she looks around in awe at what’s around her. 

  
pop’s diner is destroyed. 

  
half the booths are blown to smithereens, cushions and napkin holders and wood everywhere, and the whole left side of the diner is exposed, blown apart completely.

  
cheryl whines, unable to comprehend what she’s seeing as archie leads them towards the gigantic hole in the wall that used to be full of booths. 

  
there’s police cars and ambulances and fire trucks everywhere, sheriff jones directing people on where to go and what to do-

  
“i found them! i found cheryl and toni!” archie screams loudly in her ear, causing her to wince before sheriff jones is running towards them with wide eyes. 

  
“jesus-.”

  
“she’s unconscious, she hasn’t moved since i got her! her head is b-bleeding pretty badly and sh-she’s cold-.” fangs manages to get out, eyes filled with tears as f.p jones looks down at a broken and bloodied toni in his arms. he clenches his jaw before-

  
“hey, i need help here, now!” he roars, waving over one of the paramedics. cheryl pushes herself off of archie a little, trying to stumble her way forward to get to toni, but she just ends up collapsing into f.p’s arms, the scent of smoke and cologne hitting her nose as f.p catches her with a grunt. 

  
“toni…” cheryl says the word of the only thing on her mind, and she feels f.p’s grip on her tighten as he suddenly swoops her off her feet and carries her in his arms. she whimpers as the movement causes her shoulder to throb painfully, but f.p rushes straight toward the ambulance right behind fangs who is still carrying toni.

  
“she’s gonna be fine, cheryl, you both are! we’re not losing anyone else today!” f.p says through clenched teeth. his words don’t register into cheryl’s brain until she feels herself being lowered onto something soft, a frown taking over when something is placed over her mouth.

  
an oxygen mask.

  
“who...who died…” she tries to ask, but f.p is already walking away as cheryl looks around wildly for where toni has gone.

  
she can’t see anything, only blurred faces above her and red and blue lights, and all she wants to know is where the fuck toni is and if she’s okay. 

  
but the corners of her eyes are starting to darken, her arms beginning to feel like lead, and she loses consciousness before she can ask the paramedics working on her to tell her where toni is.

  
-

  
cheryl is awakened by the sound of beeping. her eyes slowly flutter open, her vision blurry, everything around her looks grey. she didn’t know where she was but she knew it wasn't thistlehouse. she blinks a few times as her vision slowly clears up, and she looks around. 

  
she’s in a white room, mostly blank walls, but the ceiling above her has bright lights that flicker a little and have this incessant buzzing sound that mixed in with the beeping, makes cheryl’s head pound even worse. she winces, tries to move even a little bit, but her arm flares with pain, and she glances down to see her left arm, the one that was hurting so much before, is now in a sling. she frowns, tries to move it just a little, but it causes her shoulder to throb, so she bares her teeth and decides against it.

  
she’s in a hospital, that much is obvious. 

  
there’s a knock on the door and it slowly opens as f.p. stick his head inside. when he sees that she is awake he walks into the room, dressed in his sheriff uniform. he removes his hat from his head as he slowly walks up to the bed. 

  
cheryl notices how his shoulders are slumped, how his head hangs, how his eyes are red and his cheeks flushed as if he’s been crying. 

  
“how are you feeling kiddo?” f.p asks hoarsely, voice scratched from what, cheryl doesn’t know, but she doesn’t answer his question anyway.

  
“where’s toni?” she croaks out, voice hoarse and throat extremely dry from the lack of use.

  
f.p doesn’t answer, he drops his head and releases a shaky breath, sniffling back his tears, trying his hardest to fight them off.

  
“f.p, where’s toni? how- how did i get here?” she tries to sit up further in her bed but pain shoots up her arm again. “what happened?”

  
“cheryl,” he rasps, clearing his throat. “there… was an explosion at pops...one of the gas valves was broken and leaking and...”

  
cheryl’s eyebrows furrow and she looks away from the man as she starts to recall what happened. she and her friends were at pops celebrating their graduation. she remembers burning jugheads beanie in the sink, then going downstairs to party. she also remembers dancing with toni, and being pulled away to a supply closet. then she remembers hearing a loud boom before everything went dark.

  
tears start to well in her eyes as she looks back at f.p.

  
“...and toni… she...”

  
cheryl feels her chest get tight, her head starts to spin and the heart monitor starts to beep faster. f.p was crying, and he was speaking to her slowly and gently. she remembers now. she remembers. the loud boom. the heat. feeling crushed. crying, begging and pleading for help. she remembers now. 

  
no.

  
_no no no no no._

  
“the doctors...they said that toni had some kind of hematoma from blunt force trauma to her head. her brain, it...it was bleeding for too long. they had her in surgery for hours, but-.”

  
“don’t...don’t, just...shut up, shut up…” cheryl breathes, her heart rate monitor beeping erratically now as f.p sniffs once and nods.

  
“cheryl, i’m sorry-.” he starts, but cheryl’s raising a hand to silence him once again.

  
it can’t be. it can’t be real, it’s _not_ real, toni can’t be dead...not after everything, not after all of this, for them not to end up together, it’s not happening...

  
“no...no, it’s not r-right, it’s not fair, it’s not...she can’t be gone-.” cheryl chokes out, and f.p looks at her with wide eyes before he’s lurching forward.

  
“hey, hey, no, listen! she’s...she’s not dead, cheryl. okay? she’s not gone yet, you can’t give up on her!” f.p says quickly.

  
cheryl pauses. 

  
“she’s...what?” she whispers, heart rate still beeping crazily as f.p swallows thickly and looks at her sadly.

  
“the doctors put her in a medically induced coma. something about giving her body and mind a rest so it can heal, her injuries were severe, cheryl. they said the chances...the chances of her waking up are…” f.p trails off, licking his lips as fresh tears fall down his face, and cheryl’s so tired of the pauses, she knows he’s trying to give her time to process it, but she needs to know...

  
“what? f.p. please…” f.p looks up at her with his bloodshot eyes before he’s clearing his throat and-

  
“they’re slim, cheryl. really slim...fifteen percent chance slim.” 

  
her world crashes and burns. 

  
fifteen percent chance...fifteen percent chance that toni, her toni will ever wake up...that she’ll ever see toni’s smile again or hear her laugh or look at the way those brown eyes light up with so much happiness and love every time she looks at her, no...no, that’s not right.

  
fifteen percent?

  
“i need to see toni.” cheryl barely manages to get out through the tears and the lump in her throat as she grabs the blankets of her bed and pushes them off her body, but f.p’s jumping up and stopping her.

  
“cheryl, you’re pretty banged up, you need to rest-.” he tries to get out quickly, but cheryl pushes his hands away before he even makes contact with her.

  
“i don’t care, i need to see her, now.” she goes to swing her feet off the bed, and f.p looks exhausted as he grabs her knee and stops her with a shake of his head.

  
“cheryl please, you’re not in any condition to be out of bed!”

  
“f.p. please, she’s my girlfriend, i need to see her!” cheryl cries, moving to get off the bed once again before f.p pushes her back down a little bit more aggressively this time.

  
“no!”

  
“f.p. let me go!” cheryl screams, not even caring at how her thrashing is causing her shoulder to ache before-

  
“no! i’m not losing anymore kids!” he snaps and cheryl goes still, his words hitting her hard.

  
“anymore?” she whispers, and f.p. breaks down, his shoulders shaking and he covers his eyes with his hand as he whimpers. cheryl has the urge to reach out and grab his hand, but she’s frozen in shock. she’s never seen f.p break down like this, she’s never even seen him cry at all.

  
f.p inhales sharply and wipes his face with his hand.

  
“jughead…he uh…he didn’t make it.”

  
and cheryl’s jaw drops. she’s never really cared for jughead. she was cordial with him towards the end of their senior year but she never really considered him a close friend. but hearing this information, in addition to the way f.p. just broke down, makes her feel an ache in her chest as silent tears roll down her cheeks.

  
she wants to comfort him, but right now, all she can think about is toni, and the fact that she’s alone somewhere in some hospital bed in a fucking coma with a fifteen percent chance of waking up and-

  
“i’m s-sorry...i’m so sorry for your loss, f.p, but right now, i need to get to toni.” 

  
“cheryl,” he starts but is instantly cut off by her pleading once more.

  
“please, f.p. _please._ she’s all alone and needs me right now. please, let me go.” cheryl cries.

  
f.p. stares at her for a few moments before he sighs and runs his fingers back through his hair. he knows that she really should stay in bed until a doctor clears her to leave, but from her short time being in the serpents he quickly learned that she was very stubborn. he also knew the only person who could possible sway her decision was the girl she was so desperate to see right now.

  
“will you at least let me get a doctor to check on you first?” he asks. cheryl hesitates, feels her shoulder throb before-

  
“okay.”

  
and five minutes later her doctor comes in to check on her, looking a little stressed, no doubt from the multiple people who have come in from the explosion. 

  
“hey, miss blossom, it’s good to see you awake, you were asleep for quite some time-.”

  
“how long?” cheryl interrupts, looking between f.p and the doctor and watching them exchange a glance before-

  
“about a day or so. you were injured quite badly, miss blossom. a dislocated shoulder, some bruised ribs and severe lacerations to the arms and legs, you’re lucky you didn’t escape with worse.” 

  
toni was on top of her…cheryl knows why she escaped with less injuries and it wasn’t because of fucking luck.

  
“toni...she shielded me from the worst of it…” cheryl breathes, more tears falling, rolling down her cheeks as she looks up at f.p, who just looks so devastated-

  
“i have to see her. please...please, she’s the love of my life, i can’t s-stay in this bed and not see h-her when she’s…” cheryl whines, her heart aching so badly over all of it, this isn’t fair…

  
“okay...let me just do a check up and then we’ll get you a wheelchair and take you to her, okay?” the doctor says softly, and cheryl nods, willing to do whatever it takes to get to toni.

  
after he deems her okay enough to leave, they roll in a wheelchair for her. she stands from the bed with a grunt and a nurse helps her into the chair. the nurse rolls her out of her room and down the hall towards the room in which toni lay, cheryl’s eyes darting all over the place in panic for reasons she can’t explain.

  
the nurse rolls her into her room and cheryl’s heart breaks at the sight of her girlfriend. 

  
_this can’t be happening…_

  
there’s tubes and needles everywhere, in toni’s arms, in her neck, and worst of all…

  
her head is all bandaged up, only a few strands of her pink hair visible through it, and there’s a tube down her throat and fuck, this _can’t_ be happening...

  
she is rolled up to the bed, and cheryl gasps, seeing the damage from up close. toni has a bandage over her brow from what cheryl guesses is a cut, the bruising beneath it marrying her gorgeous chocolate colored skin, these small cuts here and there and one of her eyes bruised and swollen-

  
“would you like me to leave you alone?” the nurse asks, gripping her non-injured shoulder and wheeling her a little closer as cheryl chokes on her own tears and nods.

  
“yes, please,” she whispers.

  
“okay, hit the buzzer if you need anything.” the nurse says before she leaves the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

  
cheryl sniffles and lifts her uninjured arm to grab toni’s hand. her face scrunches up as she just stares at her, fresh tears falling down her face and dripping off her jaw into her lap. 

  
it’s toni, it’s fucking _toni_ on this bed...

  
“oh, toni. why would you let that thing crush you? you’ve been there for me more times than i can count. you’ve already saved my life so many times. it was my turn.” cheryl squeezes her hand tighter, hoping she can feel it. “toni. you have to come back to me. they said your chances of waking up are very slim. but, fuck that. you’re a fighter, antoinette topaz. so fight, you hear me? fight...you have to fight because i need you, toni. i love you so much and i’ve lost so much in this life but i refuse to lose you too. and i know you love me too so you fight baby...fight! please fight-.”

  
cheryl’s shoulders start to shake as sobs wrack her body. she clutches toni’s hand tighter and leans down to rest her forehead on them. she doesn’t know how long she’s laying there but she eventually lifts herself out of her wheelchair and into the chair next to toni’s bed and she watches toni until exhaustion takes over and she falls asleep with only one thought on her mind.

  
that she’s not leaving this hospital until those beautiful brown eyes open again.

  
-

  
a week goes by. toni still doesn't wake. but cheryl never leaves her bedside, except to use the restroom, which she found is rather difficult to do with one hand, but the nurses always offer her a hand, which she’s grateful for.

  
cheryl learns that pop tate also died in the explosion, something that leaves her already broken heart shattered beyond repair. they hold jughead’s funeral, and pop’s, but cheryl can’t bring herself to leave toni’s side to go to either of them. 

  
fangs and kevin are the first to come visit, kevin rocking his own arm sling, while fangs hops into the room on his crutches, a blue cast on his foot. the four of them have become a lot closer since the nick situation a couple months back. they bring a bouquet of yellow roses and a stuffed bunny with them, and are the only ones who don’t mind staying hours in silence while cheryl just...stares. at toni, at the needles connected to her body, at...everything.

  
archie and veronica eventually visit on day four on the same day cheryl herself is discharged from the hospital, the both of them bearing their own scrapes and bruises, but looking relatively unharmed. they tell cheryl that betty will come eventually, but cheryl tells them to tell betty it’s fine: she can take however long she needs to.

  
she knows her cousin is mourning. jughead is gone, at least toni is still here…

  
barely.

  
a few of their other classmates come by, including reggie, but they leave quickly, because there isn’t much to do with a lifeless toni resting in a hospital bed while cheryl just sits there and watches her almost obsessively, waiting for her to come back to life.

  
veronica and archie are the first to raise their concerns when they see how cheryl’s usually immaculate red hair becomes matted from lack of care, when they notice how the circles under her eyes only darken with each passing day and how her skin becomes impossibly paler and how _skinny_ she’s gotten in the last seven days...

  
“cheryl, maybe you should go home, sleep in a proper bed, eat a proper meal-.” veronica starts, but cheryl’s immediately shaking her head as she grips toni’s hand tighter. 

  
“if she’s here, i’m here. i’m not going anywhere.” she says resolutely, reaching up to tuck a lock of pink hair behind toni’s ear. they took off the full bandaging the day before, and cheryl can now see the side of her head shaved clean with a bandage resting over it, no doubt hiding a huge scar where they cut into her girlfriend’s brain...

  
“cheryl...the doctors said-.”

  
“there’s a fifteen percent chance she’ll wake up, veronica! she’s toni, you don’t know her like i do! she’s a fighter, she’s…” cheryl trails off, her voice trembling weakly as she swallows the lump in her throat and lifts toni’s hand to her lips, trying not to think about how lifeless it is in her grip.

  
“there’s a fifteen percent chance. don’t you dare take that from me.” cheryl hisses through bared teeth. she sees veronica and archie exchange a glance before veronica’s walking forward to grip cheryl’s non-injured shoulder with an understanding smile.

  
“okay...i’ll go to thistlehouse and get you some clothes, okay? pack a bag for you?” she says softly. cheryl clenches her jaw and simply nods.

  
“...thank you.”

  
“of course.” 

  
a couple more days pass...people begin to visit less often. cheryl only texts veronica to ask her if she can get her another change of clothes, her pile stacking higher and higher, but she can’t even bring it in her to leave to wash them. thankfully, kevin offers, and cheryl hands him the keys to thistlehouse and tells him to thank nana rose’s carer for her again. 

  
she knows the hospital staff are getting annoyed at her constantly being there, but she can’t bring it in her to get mad or yell at them or do anything.

  
she just sits, and waits, and watches.

  
it’s on day ten of toni being in a coma...that something utterly life changing happens. 

  
cheryl is painting toni’s nails a beautiful baby pink, the feeling of toni’s warm hand in her own making her smile at the normalcy and familiarity of it all when she accidentally spills some of the polish onto her blankets because she only has the use of one fucking arm.

  
“shit!” she sighs, tries to rub the polish away and only ends up making it worse before she’s rolling her eyes and jumping up out of her seat.

  
“i’ll be back, t.t.” she murmurs, pressing a gentle kiss to toni’s non-bandaged brow and absentmindedly scratching at the cut on her cheek that has officially reached the itching stage of healing before she makes her way out of the room.

  
she walks up to the reception desk to ask them for another blanket and finds herself standing behind a tall woman with long blonde hair with brown highlights that’s braided, multiple hair rings and cuffs keeping those braids together from what cheryl can see of the back of her-

  
“hi, i’m looking for a patient. her name is antoinette topaz.” cheryl hears the woman say, her voice raspy, and oh so familiar, but deeper than cheryl’s used to hearing…

  
“miss topaz is in room-.”

  
“two seventeen.” cheryl says behind the woman roughly, and the woman jumps slightly in surprise before she’s turning-

  
and cheryl pauses.

  
she’s… _beautiful._

  
dark brown eyes that narrow as they take her in, looking her up and down as her face pulls taut in suspicion, full lips pursed and god, she’s breathtaking, sure, but she looks a hell of a lot like-

  
“do you know her?” the girl asks, leaning away from the desk as cheryl takes in her black skinny jeans and red crop top, as well as the leather jacket she’s wearing over it and the braids on the side of her head where a cigarette is tucked behind her ear.

  
classy.

  
“i’m her girlfriend.” cheryl says simply, with none of the usual air or pride that she usually has in her voice when she says those words, her heart too broken to sound jovial right now.

  
the girl’s eyebrows shoot up before her lips pull up into a lopsided smile, a scoff and a laugh escaping her before she smirks at the redhead before her.

  
“girlfriend? damn...true what they say then, that the apple don’t fall far from the tree, huh?” she says with a laugh.

  
cheryl simply blinks in confusion.

  
“i...who are you, exactly?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest with a little bit of that cheryl blossom sass making it’s way into her tone, and the girl’s face falls, a look of hurt shining in her eyes before she clenches her jaw and nods, casting her eyes down to her feet.

  
“yeah...don’t blame her for not telling you about me…” she murmurs. cheryl simply waits, stares at the girl impatiently as she lets out a sigh and finally looks up at cheryl with a shake of her head. 

  
“look, i don’t know how else to say this, but…” she trails off, letting out another shaking breath before she lets out eight words that change cheryl’s life forever. 

  
“my name is lucy topaz. i’m toni’s sister.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii this chapter is so long, we kinda got away with ourselves with this one SKSKSKSK! we hope you like it, and yes, there will be a third and last chapter to tie everything up into a neat lil bow! leave a comment letting us know what you think of this one! till then, laterrrr!
> 
> twitter: @endofdaysforme/@topazgotjuice

cheryl stares.

  
  


and stares.

  
  


she hasn’t stopped staring for at least the last ten minutes, watching, observing as this…‘lucy’ woman sits beside toni’s bed with tears in her eyes and this look of anger, but also heartbreak. 

  
  


cheryl doesn’t know what to believe. her mind is fucked right now.

  
  


this woman is toni’s sister?  _ this _ woman? it doesn’t seem possible, toni’s  _ never  _ said a word about having a sister, and she and cheryl have been together for two years now, she would’ve fucking mentioned if she had a sister...right?

  
  


she must be lying, but the question remains: why would this woman lie about something like this? and why would she go through the trouble of coming here if she was? 

  
  


maybe she wants something, but cheryl doesn’t really know what it is she could want from toni. 

  
  


but it’s not possible that she’s telling the truth. it’s just not. toni would’ve told her. this is something so fucking big, toni wouldn’t keep this from her-

  
  


“you think i’m fuckin’ around with you, huh?” lucy says suddenly, pulling cheryl’s attention to see that she’s staring at cheryl with her head slightly tilted to the side, observing her with wonder.

  
  


“hard not to think that, considering toni’s never uttered a word about a long lost sister.” cheryl says stiffly, sinking back into her seat and watching as lucy laughs softly and leans in closer to toni, her eyes falling on the pink haired girl on the bed. 

  
  


“yeah...i’m not surprised she never said anything about me.” she says roughly, jaw clenching, and cheryl is silent for a few moments before she scoffs.

  
  


“you said that before.” she says simply. lucy huffs, glances at her briefly before her eyes fall back onto toni once more. 

  
  


“she hates me. and she has every right to.” lucy murmurs. cheryl watches as a stray tear falls down her cheek, one that lucy quickly wipes away with a clear of her throat.

  
  


“what happened between you two?” cheryl whispers. lucy lets out a shaky breath before she leans back into her seat, her head falling against the back of it before it lulls to the side, and cheryl watches as lucy looks at toni with a sad smile. 

  
  


“when we were kids, our mom and dad took us out of riverdale. we were young, man...i was like, twelve i think, toni was seven. and our parents, they were southside serpents...they got involved in some heavy shit, the kinda shit that made them leave town, and they took us with them. i never learned the specifics of it all, but i know that it was too dangerous for them to stay, so…” lucy shrugs, sniffs once and adjusts herself in her seat before she continues. 

  
  


“anyway, a few more years go by, we’re living in new york and things are going fine. i mean, we were in a one bedroom apartment that smelled like shit, had barely functioning electricity and no hot water, but...we were all together, so it didn’t matter, you know? mom and dad, shit…” lucy trails off, shaking her head as she licks her lips and ploughs on. “they were paranoid. about  _ everything.  _ always looking over their shoulders, barely letting us leave the house except for school. and toni, she was a smart fucking kid. perfect grades, genius brain in that head of hers...my parents wanted to do more for her but they couldn’t.” lucy says with a sad smile, suddenly reaching over and taking toni’s hand in her own.

  
  


and cheryl finds herself smiling despite herself. 

  
  


“she has a flawless gpa...and she earned a scholarship to highsmith college without lifting a finger.” cheryl says fondly, looking at toni’s face, at the now healed swollen eye that just has a bit of bruising around it...at the scar that now rips through her brow…

  
  


“ha, of course she did...smart ass.” lucy grumbles, but the awe in her eyes is evident as she leans in closer and lifts their intertwined hands up to her cheek, resting it against them. 

  
  


“good job, t.” she whispers softly, stroking toni’s wrist with even more tears falling down her cheeks than before.

  
  


“what happened, lucy?” cheryl asks again, and lucy swallows thickly, anger burning in her eyes as she grips toni’s hand tighter and stares down at her fallen sister.

  
  


“whoever my parents were worried about? yeah, they found us. came barging through the door one night...dad held them off and mom, she got us out through the fire escape. toni was asleep, she didn’t hear a damn thing, but mom pushed us out, told me to take care of her and just disappeared.” lucy says firmly, her voice only slightly shaking as more tears fall, and cheryl finds her own heart breaking at the sight when lucy suddenly pulls herself closer to toni with a shaky sigh.

  
  


“and when i heard the gunshots, i picked toni up in my arms and i just ran. i didn’t think about anything else. all i thought of was getting her the hell out of there alive.”

  
  


cheryl’s heart falls. 

  
  


toni’s never spoken to cheryl about any of this. of course, cheryl’s asked before, multiple times, has wondered why toni never speaks about her parents, but truth be told, after she told cheryl that it was a story for a time when she was ready, cheryl never bothered to ask. 

  
  


she knew toni would come to her in her own time. but for her story to be  _ this... _

  
  


“oh my god…” cheryl breathes, her eyes moving to toni’s unmoving figure as lucy scoffs and shakes her head.

  
  


“that’s not even the worst of it, red. we were on the streets after that...we didn’t want child services separating us, but i knew that was no way for someone like toni to live. i didn’t want that life for her. but i was only sixteen and toni was eleven, i-i couldn’t get a job, i couldn’t do _ anything _ to support or help us. and then one night…” lucy suddenly trails off, her eyes hardening, and she’s silent for a long time. long enough for cheryl to ask:

“lucy?” toni’s sister looks up at cheryl for the briefest second before her eyes cast downward once more.

  
  


“one night some...some  _ shitstain  _ decides to ask us if we’re willing to... _ service  _ him for a couple hundred bucks. i told him to fuck off and shove that money where the sun didn’t shine...he didn’t like that answer.” she says with a clench of her jaw.

  
  


cheryl knows what’s coming next.

  
  


toni told her about this. not in detail, but...cheryl just  _ knows.  _

  
  


“he attacked me...and then he tried to touch toni. i was hurting real bad, but the second he grabbed toni and tried to pin her to the wall, and the  _ second  _ i saw his hand touch the button of her jeans, i jumped on him. and i didn’t stop until my legs were shaking and i couldn’t kick him anymore.” lucy whispers hauntingly, the look in her eyes filled with anger, but also regret. cheryl finds herself swallowing the lump in her own throat as lucy looks up at her.

  
  


“i think i killed him. but i never stopped to find out. i just grabbed toni and i ran.” she says simply. 

  
  


it’s quiet for a long,  _ long _ time. the both of them just processing the story, cheryl...trying to wrap her mind around the life her girlfriend had before her, the life that she’s kept secret for so long that is now sitting in front of her. 

  
  


“i...i don’t know what to say-.”

  
  


“there’s nothing to say, kid.” lucy says with a sad smile, suddenly standing to reach up and tuck a lock of pink hair behind toni’s ear with a sniff. she stares down at toni for a few moments before she finally turns to look at cheryl.

  
  


“after that night, and after toni had to go through days, weeks even, of looking after me and trying to help me heal, i realized it was too dangerous for toni to stay in new york. and i wanted more for her than what i could offer. so i did some singing on the streets and got what little money we did to get us bus tickets to riverdale. and i dropped her off at our uncle jacob’s trailer, and i asked him to look after her for me until…” lucy stops again, guilt heavy in her eyes as she leans back and suddenly collapses into her seat once more.

  
  


“i promised her i’d come back for her when i was steady on my feet. but...but shit got complicated-.” 

  
  


“doesn’t look very complicated to me. you don’t look homeless.” cheryl says simply, nodding once at lucy, who sighs and scratches at her brow before she leans in closer to toni.

  
  


“i’m not, but...look, cheryl, i  _ wanted _ to come back. so many damn times, but it’s been almost seven years, i...i didn’t think she’d  _ want  _ me to come back! i left her, i abandoned her, why the hell would she care?!” lucy exclaims, fresh tears falling, and cheryl finds herself scoffing before she shakes her head.

  
  


“you’re her sister! i don’t think she would’ve cared when you came back, just as long as you did!” she snaps despite herself. lucy clenches her teeth before she’s pointing at toni fiercely.

  
  


“well i’m here now! i fucked up, i know that, but i’m here now and i’m not giving up on her! i know they said it’s a fifteen percent chance-.”

  
  


“ _ fuck _ that. toni is stronger than they think, they don’t know her like i do. she’s gonna wake up...when she’s ready.” cheryl hisses, looking back at her girlfriend and not even noticing how lucy grins before she’s nodding and sinking back into her seat in approval.

  
  


“good...glad we’re on the same page, red.” she says simply. cheryl gives her a lopsided smile, and silence falls over them once again before lucy suddenly clears her throat and nods at cheryl.

  
  


“how did you two get together, anyway? i didn’t even know toni was gay-.”

  
  


“she’s not. she’s bisexual. and...it’s a long story.” cheryl says with a tired sigh. lucy just looks pointedly at the currently unconscious toni with a soft laugh.

  
  


“i think we got time for you to tell it.” 

  
  


cheryl hesitates for a moment before she nods once. it’s a story she hasn’t told in awhile but maybe...maybe it’ll help her feel better.

  
  


“well,” cheryl sighs as she sits up straighter. “it all started when those greasy serpents invaded riverdale high. i hated them and i was such a bitch to them.” 

  
  


cheryl laughs at the memory, remembering that day vividly, like it was just yesterday that she and toni had a standoff in the hallways. it’s still crazy to her just how far they’ve come since then. 

  
  


“wait, hold on, why did you hate the serpents?” lucy asks with confusion. cheryl smiles wryly. 

  
  


“well… they, or specifically, their leader at the time, f.p jones, played a hand in covering up my brother’s murder.”

  
  


lucy’s eyes widen before, to cheryl’s surprise, she scoffs and shakes her head.

  
  


“yeah...sounds like some shady shit they’d do. god only knows what they got my parents involved with...ended up killing them in the end.” she murmurs, and cheryl chews on the inside of her cheek and looks up at her.

  
  


“toni became one. a serpent, i mean. when she was fourteen.” 

  
  


lucy’s entire body seems to tense up, and she looks up at cheryl with anger blazing in her eyes.

  
  


“she  _ what _ ?” lucy hisses, looking at her sister in shock, and cheryl sighs and runs a hand through her matted hair. 

  
  


“she’s not one anymore...like i said, it’s a long story.” lucy sighs loudly and leans back in her chair, rests her hands on top of her head and squeezes her eyes shut before:

  
  


“dammit, toni…” she says under her breath before she’s clapping her hands together angrily. she lets out another shaky sigh before she looks up at cheryl.

  
  


“sorry...keep talking.” she says apologetically and waits patiently, just blinks once, and cheryl licks her lips before she continues. 

  
  


“it was a very traumatic experience for me, my brother’s death. one that toni really helped me get passed. but i’m getting ahead of myself. anyway, basically i was less than pleased. actually no, i was livid when it was announced that the kids from southside high would be joining the riverdale high community. in fact, the day they came i gathered some students in protest to try and push them right back out the door. but…”

  
  


cheryl trails off as she looks at toni with a sigh and a soft smile.

  
  


“there was this badass biker chick with pink hair,” cheryl chuckles. “and she was brave enough to step to me, and i was the hbic, no one stepped to me. but she did. and we had a stand-off right there in the hallways before our principal diffused the situation. flash forward a few weeks...i was really not in a great place. my mother was…let’s just say she was the devil incarnate. and toni, she was trying so hard to break through my rock hard shell. of course she ended up succeeding, but i was hard to get through to, and i wasn’t playing around. she saw me in the bathroom at school after i dropped a major bombshell on j-“

  
  


cheryl paused, choking on her words, the thought of the boy who was now dead, gone forever making her heart ache despite not having a close relationship to him. he was once her leader...someone she could talk to. 

  
  


and now he’s dead...

  
  


“jughead, this guy who went to school with us. and toni heard the whole thing. she could’ve easily just ignored me, or told me off, being friends with him and all. but she didn’t. instead she asked me what was bothering me. she saw right through my tough exterior. and for a second i almost wanted to tell her. i mean she was the first person to ask me what was bothering me. but she was standing so close to me, and was touching me, so i panicked. i went off on her, told her to get her sapphic hands off of me.”

  
  


“damn girl...” lucy chuckles, looking up at her with a smirk, and cheryl lets out a soft laugh of her own, properly her first since the accident happened...

  
  


“yeah i know, i literally swatted her hand away. but that didn’t stop her, no. toni is very resilient. she saw me at the movies the following evening, gave me some excuse at how fangs, one of her fellow serpent chums, ditched her, which was a lie, and she asked me if i was okay. her eyes were so genuine, she looked like she really cared and she didn’t even know me. i just couldn’t lie to her. i told her i was not, then she asked if i wanted to see  _ love, simon _ with her. i always say that was our first date, even though it was unofficial. then we went to pops afterwards and i came out to her. then she called me sensational and…” cheryl trails off with a huge yawn, her eyes watering from it as she shakes her head.

  
  


“we have so much history together, but somehow, we always find a way through it.”

  
  


cheryl takes toni’s hand into her own, wishing more than anything that she’d squeeze back, or just do  _ something... _

  
  


“wow. it sounds like quite the love story, straight out of a movie.” lucy says with a smile. 

  
  


“it was. it  _ is. _ which is why i know she’s going to fight. we need to have our happy ending.” cheryl says firmly, very visibly fighting back another yawn that has lucy frowning before she’s nodding to the couch in the corner.

  
  


“go on, get some sleep. i’ll get the rest of the story out of you later, especially how toni became a serpent...but that can wait.” she says softly, but cheryl shakes her head. 

  
  


“no, i’m fine, it’s-.”

  
  


“cheryl...you got someone else here with her now. you don’t need to stick by her side, i got her. and i got  _ you.  _ least i can do after all this time.” lucy whispers, nodding to the couch again, and cheryl hesitates before she licks her lips and nods.

  
  


“you’re sure?”

  
  


“positive. no offence but...you look like shit.” lucy says with a laugh, giving her a once over with a grin.

  
  


“gee, thanks.” cheryl rolls her eyes, but takes her advice and moves over to the couch. although lucy had a very blunt way of telling her, cheryl knows she’s right. she’s exhausted, and she knows she looks as such. she curls up on the couch, being careful with her still healing shoulder and resting her head on her pillow, wrapping herself up in a throw blanket, both of which veronica brought to her from thistlehouse. 

  
  


as soon as her head hits the pillow, the tiredness hits her like a truck and she can’t keep her eyes open even if she wanted to, which she tries her hardest to. she never wants to take her eyes off of toni, so worried about her every waking minute of every day, but lucy is here now, and she’s in desperate need of sleep, so she lets out a sigh and tries to focus on sleeping.

  
  


but just before she fully passes out, she hears lucy chuckle and barely sees her through the blurred vision of sleep as she brushes strands of pink hair back from toni’s face with a grin.

  
  


“you really went ahead and dyed it pink, huh? dumbass...looks good on you though, sis.” 

  
  


and cheryl finds herself smiling, knowing toni’s in safe hands before she succumbs to slumber. 

  
  


-

  
  


the weeks start to go by and toni still doesn’t wake up. cheryl’s injuries heal and so do toni’s visible ones. cheryl, with full use of both her arms now, regularly takes to brushing toni’s hair or doing her nails, and cheryl is actually glad lucy is here because she’s sure she’d go mad if she wasn't. granted, when cheryl told lucy the story of how toni became a serpent, then got kicked out of the group and formed her own gang, lucy was less than pleased, and when the pretty poisons had come around (“what a stupid ass name…” lucy whispered under her breath when cheryl told her, much to her chagrin), lucy had gone back to her hotel room and had asked cheryl to text her when they were gone.

  
  


so yes, it appears lucy isn’t a big fan of gangs, which cheryl can’t exactly blame her for, but since the visits from other people have become a lot more sparse now that veronica and archie are working on restoring pop’s and the speakeasy in his legacy and f.p and betty are busy with the serpents, she's grateful that someone else is here to keep her company, and lucy, like cheryl, doesn’t leave toni’s side, just disappears during the day to go shower and get a couple hours of sleep at the hotel room she’s staying at. 

  
  


kevin and fangs still come over, and fangs is just as shocked to learn that toni has a sister than cheryl was, but both boys still help cheryl as best as they can, heading to thistlehouse to grab her more clothes while lucy offers to wash up her dirty clothes at the laundry room in the hotel she’s staying at. 

  
  


lucy practically looks after her, and because of it, she and lucy start to bond. she’s come to realize that she is a lot like toni which makes the conversations easier. she learns that lucy is a singer and that she has a girlfriend too, something that shocks cheryl into silence, but helps the comment about the apple not falling far from the tree make more sense to her, and when she shows cheryl a picture of said girlfriend, some incredibly beautiful, but somehow cute blonde girl with bright blue eyes and a smile that could make even the most depressed person smile back, cheryl grins up at lucy and simply says:

  
  


“so the topaz women have taste!” 

  
  


lucy laughs for a good ten minutes at that, and even ends up texting her girlfriend to tell her what cheryl said. 

  
  


but one day, as cheryl and lucy are touching up toni’s nails, each of them polishing a hand, something happens that sends cheryl into full on panic mode.

  
  


toni moves.

  
  


as she’s brushing the paint over her thumbnail, she feels her fingers twitch in her hand. cheryl gasps loudly and snaps her eyes up to toni, whose eyes are still closed. but she felt toni move, she felt it.

  
  


“oh my God, lucy. she moved! she just moved!” cheryl exclaims as she stands up to look down at the sleeping girl in shock.

  
  


“she what?” lucy says in shock, standing up as well.

  
  


“i-she moved! she-toni? toni can you hear me? toni?” cheryl squeezes toni’s fingers to try and get her to move again. “call the doctor or a nurse or somebody!” cheryl rushes out as she squeezes toni’s fingers again, and lucy quickly grabs the remote attached to toni’s bed and presses the large red button to call a nurse in.

  
  


cheryl’s heart is beating so fast. after weeks of staring at a lifeless toni, she finally felt her move. it may have been small, but it was something, and she’s not about to let it go.

  
  


“cheryl, are you sure-.” lucy starts, but cheryl quickly interrupts her.

  
  


“yes, i’m positive!” she cries, squeezing toni’s hand again before a nurse finally knocks on the door and enters the room.

  
  


“everything okay?” the nurse barely has time to finish her short question before cheryl rambles out-

  
  


“she moved! t-toni, i just felt her move! we were painting her nails and i felt her move. she- she squeezed my hand! does this mean she’s getting better? is she coming back to me?” cheryl gets out without even breathing, her excitement levels rising by the second.

  
  


“let me get doctor phillips…” the nurse murmurs before she’s rushing out of the room, and cheryl brushes toni’s hair back from her face with a whimper, tears in her eyes as she looks up at lucy with a breathless laugh.

  
  


“this is good, right?! this-she’s coming back, r-right?”

  
  


“i don’t know, red, let’s just wait for the doc-.”

  
  


just as lucy’s about to finish her sentence, doctor phillips walks in, a smile on his face as he looks at lucy and cheryl with hope in his eyes.

  
  


“she moved?”

  
  


“y-yeah! she g-grabbed my hand…” cheryl trails off as doctor phillips suddenly bends over toni’s body and lifts an eyelid, flashing a light across her eyes with a frown on his face.

  
  


“miss topaz, can you hear me?” he calls out quite loudly, cheryl’s eyes falling on lucy, who has her arms crossed with one hand raised to her mouth, chewing her nails nervously with wide eyes. 

  
  


“miss topaz, if you can hear me, can you squeeze my hands?” doctor phillips calls out again, gripping both of toni’s hands in his own. 

  
  


nothing happens.

  
  


doctor phillips sighs before he turns to look at cheryl with a sad smile.

  
  


“miss blossom, may i ask you something?” he asks softly, and cheryl nods furiously with wide eyes. “when you felt toni move, did she squeeze your hand or was it more like a twitch?”

  
  


“it- it was like a twitch.” cheryl confirms quickly, and the look on doctor phillip’s face causes her excitement to fade tremendously.

  
  


“yes, well, the twitching of fingers or toes is common in coma patients. it’s an involuntary movement caused by cells located in the spinal cord, not the brain, it’s likely this was just a reflex reaction.” he says firmly.

  
  


both cheryl and lucy very quickly and very visibly deflate. 

  
  


“so, she’s… she’s not getting better?” cheryl whispers as the tears well in her eyes, while lucy watches from the other side of the bed, her jaw clenched, a nervous expression on her face.

  
  


“she’s not getting worse but...no, she’s not getting better, either. but don’t give up yet. she’s a strong one.” doctor phillips says sympathetically and puts a hand on cheryl’s shoulder, squeezing gently with a small smile.

  
  


cheryl nods but doesn't say anything, the doctor’s words not really helping her feel better. she was so excited. she thought toni was finally getting better, that she was one step closer to waking up. but now knowing that the movement was involuntary…

  
  


she’s crushed. 

  
  


she waits until doctor phillip’s has left to cry, and lucy quickly runs to her side, enveloping her in a tight hug. cheryl grips the back of her shirt as she cries into her shoulder.

  
  


she misses her so fucking much, to go so long without her kiss or her touch...this is driving her crazy, she can’t keep living like this...

  
  


“hey, shhh, it’s okay-.”

  
  


“i just want her back!” cheryl cries, sobbing into lucy’s shoulder as the woman sighs and holds cheryl closer. 

  
  


“you and me both, red...shh, just breathe...”

  
  


another week goes by, and the summer holidays officially begin. everyone starts making plans for college, while cheryl just...stays by toni’s side. toni...who is now on week six of being in a coma. 

  
  


cheryl can’t bring it in herself to do anything without toni.

  
  


and she’s not the only one stuck.

  
  


betty finally comes by to visit six weeks after the incident, and the second cheryl sees her, she feels nothing but anguish.

  
  


betty looks as bad as she feels. 

  
  


“cousin betty…” cheryl breathes, immediately enveloping the blonde into a hug before they’re both crying into each other’s shoulders, and cheryl’s thankful that in this moment, lucy isn’t here, but is at the hotel to get a few hours of sleep on a proper bed.

  
  


betty is a mess, gripping cheryl’s shirt between twisted fingers with drawn out cries of pain, and cheryl eventually manages to detangle herself from her cousin, but simply ends up taking her face into her hands and wiping her tears away with her thumbs.

  
  


“i’m so sorry, betty-.”

  
  


“n-no, i’m...i’m sorry i h-haven’t visited i j-just-.” betty tries to get out, but cheryl simply shakes her head.

  
  


“shh. there’s nothing to apologize for.” she says softly. betty swallows thickly and nods once before she’s letting out a shaky breath and looking over at toni’s prone body with a frown.

  
  


“how is she?” she croaks out.

  
  


“no change...she’s been like this for six weeks now.” cheryl says solemnly, trying her best not to break down again as betty suddenly takes her hand and squeezes it tightly.

  
  


“god...cheryl, i’m so sorry…” 

  
  


“it’s okay. she’ll wake up, betty, i know she will. she’s just taking her time...but it’s been a lot easier to cope with lucy around.” cheryl says with a smile, and betty simply frowns in confusion.

  
  


“who’s lucy?” she asks. cheryl chews on the inside of her cheek before she nods at toni.

  
  


“she’s...well, she’s toni’s long lost sister.”

  
  


“wait, what?” betty looks at her in shock, and cheryl can’t help but laugh.

  
  


“trust me, i was just as surprised. but...turns out toni has a sister that she never told me about.” cheryl says promptly. betty’s frown only deepens, and she looks at toni for a long moment before she’s looking back at cheryl like something’s just clicked in her mind.

  
  


“cheryl, are you  _ sure  _ this woman is toni’s sister-.”

  
  


“she’s been right here with me almost every waking moment of every day at this hospital for over a month now, she hasn’t left toni’s side. if she wanted something or she was lying, don’t you think she’d be spending her time doing something other than hanging around this boring hospital all day?” cheryl says with a wry smile. betty sighs, but nods in agreement.

  
  


“yeah, i guess you’re right…is she nice?”

  
  


“incredibly so. she’s been pretty much looking after the both of us since she arrived.” 

  
  


“well, i’m glad you have someone else to keep you company, i know it can’t be easy s-seeing her like this.” betty chokes up a little as she turns to look down at toni, her eyes glossing over at the sight of her. 

  
  


“it was really hard at first, but i know she’ll wake up. she  _ is _ going to wake up.” cheryl smiles sadly as she rubs her hand up and down toni’s shin. 

  
  


cheryl doesn’t realize how much weight her words put on betty until she hears her sniffle. she turns and sees her bottom lip quiver as tears roll down her flushed cheeks. 

  
  


“oh, betty i- i’m so sorry i-”

  
  


“n-no cheryl, it’s fine really. you’re supposed to have h-hope. jug... m-might be gone but i really want you and toni to have your happy ending. you d-deserve it, cheryl.”

  
  


cheryl doesn’t reply. she just grabs betty by her arm and pulls her into another hug, and again for the next ten or so minutes they comfort each other as they just cry.

  
  


the fourth of july comes. cheryl’s never really liked the holiday anyways but it was easier to get through it when toni was here. so she expected the day to be hard. 

  
  


boy was she wrong. 

  
  


because that afternoon she’s surprised when there’s a knock on the door and a hoard of serpents walk through the door, including f.p, alice, fangs, sweet pea, and betty, all sporting their jackets. she’s surprised to see alice wearing hers, but regardless...

  
  


tears well in her eyes and she gasps when she sees f.p holding two serpent jackets in his hand, one black and one red.

  
  


_ their  _ serpent jackets. hers and toni’s. 

  
  


f.p is the first to speak.

  
  


“cheryl, i know a lot has happened between us, but we just want you to know that you and toni will always be serpents. we’re a family, no matter what. in unity there is strength.”

  
  


“in unity there is strength.” the group of serpents respond, quietly, in unison.

  
  


f.p extends the red jacket to cheryl with a smile and an encouraging nod. she slips her arms through the sleeves, the weight of it so familiar, as a tear escapes her eye. she smiles toothily as she watches alice lay the black jacket over toni’s skinny frame. 

  
  


“and toni is the strongest of us all. we know she’s going to get through this.” f.p finishes, resting his hand on cheryl's shoulder and giving her a reassuring squeeze. 

  
  


“thank you so much f.p. you have no idea how much this means to me, and how much it’ll mean to toni when she wakes up.” she says, smiling at toni and ignoring the whispers and the exchanged glances between f.p and alice before the older woman is clearing her throat and stepping forward.

  
  


“cheryl...sweetheart, it’s been two months now, i think-.”

  
  


“whoa, where’s the party?” everyone turns at the sound of a new voice, and cheryl smiles at the sight of lucy at the door, leaning against it with her arms crossed over her chest and a lopsided smile on her face. everyone frowns in confusion, but f.p’s eyes widen before:

  
  


“holy shit, lucile topaz, is that you?!” he exclaims, stepping forward as lucy laughs loudly and moves off the door to hold her arms out.

  
  


“f.p jones, as i live and breathe! you got old, dude!” she teases, wrapping her arms around the man and hugging him tightly. f.p chuckles and pulls away just to wrap an arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze.

  
  


“hey now, don’t forget who used to sneak you chocolate bars whenever you’d go roaming around the trailer park at three in the morning!”

  
  


“yeah, well...was hard to sleep sometimes when mom and dad were fighting.” lucy deadpans, but still smiles as f.p clears his throat a little awkwardly.

  
  


“what are you doing here?!” he asks. lucy cocks an eyebrow at him, and cheryl sees her eyes sweep over all the serpent jackets surrounding them.

  
  


her expression suddenly turns stony.

  
  


“uh, my sister was in an explosion! and she’s, you know, in a coma...figured it was time to get my head out of my ass and make an appearance. i’ve been here for almost two months, man. maybe you should’ve visited sooner.” she says stiffly, moving out of f.p’s grip suddenly, and the man winces and looks up at cheryl before he clears his throat and looks to lucy sadly.

  
  


“lucy, i would’ve, but...i’ve been going through some things since the explosion, and being the serpent king  _ and  _ the sheriff, it makes me one hell of a busy man.” he says apologetically. lucy’s eyes narrow in confusion before she scoffs and looks around the room.

  
  


“wait a minute...you’re the sheriff  _ and _ you’re leading a gang of criminals? what in the hell is wrong with this town?” she exclaims. cheryl bites back a laugh as f.p runs his fingers through his hair.

  
  


“it’s...complicated. but the serpents are clean now, lucy. we don’t do any of the old stuff, no drug trafficking, no violence, no turf wars...we just protect the town, like it was always meant to be-.” 

  
  


“yeah, you mean like how it was always meant to be right from the beginning when  _ my  _ family founded and led the charge before  _ your _ family took over and brought us down that path, right?” lucy says through bared teeth, so much venom and anger in her voice and face that even cheryl is surprised.

  
  


“lucy…”

  
  


“why are you here, anyway?” lucy interrupts, glaring at all of the serpents behind f.p with her arms crossed over her chest, and cheryl’s surprised when betty clears her throat and steps forward, looking a little uncomfortable about the whole situation.

  
  


“we...we were giving toni her serpent jacket back-.”

  
  


“what, you think now because she’s in a coma and might not wake up, you can just welcome her back into your circle to help you feel less guilty? nah see...that’s not how this works.” lucy says angrily, scoffing in disbelief as f.p sighs and shakes his head.

  
  


“no, that’s not what this is, okay? my son made a mistake kicking toni and cheryl out...and i know he regretted it from the second it happened to the second he died in that explosion. i’m just helping fix the mistakes he never got the chance to fix himself.” f.p says through slightly clenched teeth. cheryl watches lucy’s expression soften for a brief moment before she’s clenching her jaw and stepping forward into f.p’s space.

  
  


“i’m sorry you lost your boy, f.p. but my sister is still here, and she still has a  _ chance _ . i won’t let her go back to putting her life at risk when she’s already on the brink of death right now. the serpents killed my parents, i’m not about to let them kill my sister, too.” lucy whispers, tears welling in her eyes. f.p winces before he sighs shakily and reaches out to grip her arm, but lucy moves out of his line of reach.

  
  


“lucy-.”

  
  


“how about you get the hell out? all of you. now!” lucy barks, glaring at every single one of the serpents so menacingly, they all begin to shuffle out, f.p’s eyes blazing with anger, but also regret before he’s leaving too without another word.

  
  


lucy is breathing heavily, her whole body shaking as she lets out a deep breath, and it’s quiet for a few moments before cheryl adjusts her jacket with a sigh and looks up at toni’s sister with a frown.

  
  


“lucy...that wasn’t necessary.” lucy’s resting her hands on top of her head and pacing as she looks at cheryl and simply scoffs in disbelief before she nods at her.

  
  


“yeah, i see you’ve already settled in real nice in that jacket.” she deadpans, shaking her head in anger, and cheryl scratches at the small scar on her cheek absentmindedly with a sigh.

  
  


“the serpents are toni’s family, i can’t just ignore-.”

  
  


“no, cheryl! you and me?  _ we’re  _ toni’s family! the serpents got our parents killed, you expect me to just be  _ happy  _ about her being one again? god, she shouldn’t be dealing with any of this gang bullshit, she’s just a kid!” lucy exclaims, pointing at her currently comatose sister in her hospital bed before she’s looking over at toni in anguish. 

  
  


cheryl swallows the lump in her throat and steps forward, reaching for lucy’s elbow.

  
  


“i get that you’re mad, lucy, but your uncle jacob didn’t make life easy for her, i told you that! the serpents, they protected her, they kept her safe-.” 

  
  


“then where the hell where they when our parents were killed?!” lucy hisses, and cheryl has no fucking idea where this comes from but she regrets it the second it leaves her mouth.

  
  


“where the hell were  _ you _ for the last seven years!? maybe if you had been around, toni wouldn’t have needed to join the serpents!” she snaps.

  
  


guilt spreads through her like wildfire almost immediately, and lucy staggers back in shock, eyes blinking rapidly as tears form quickly and quietly. lucy’s bottom lip trembles, and she’s licking her lips before she nods and slowly begins to step backwards towards the door.

  
  


“...right. right, right, right…” she murmurs with a croaky whisper, her tears falling, and before cheryl can stop her, she’s gripping the doorknob and ripping the door itself open.

  
  


“wait, no, lucy, i didn’t mean th-lucy, wait!” cheryl cries out, rushing after her, but lucy’s already tearing down the hallway towards the entrance of the hospital, running faster than cheryl can get to her. 

  
  


“fuck.” 

  
  


\--

  
  


lucy doesn’t come back.

  
  


cheryl texts her over and over and over again, apologizing and begging her to just come back, but for a week, her messages go unread.

  
  


and without someone here to play card games with her, without someone here to talk to, cheryl feels herself really beginning to feel the loneliness and the impact of toni’s coma.

  
  


lucy helped ease the blow, but now that she’s gone, it’s like the silence in the room is deafening. the incessant beeping of that goddamn heart monitor drives her mad, and for the first time in a long time, cheryl finds herself stepping outside to get fresh air more than three times a day like she used to.

  
  


it’s suffocating. every second that passes that toni doesn’t wake up makes her feel more and more unhinged. she’s now beginning to notice more...the way toni’s bones stick out in her wrist and how much skinnier her face is...they may be feeding her through a tube but it’s not the same, because she’s just losing more and more weight and fuck...

  
  


it’s been two months and cheryl blossom, without the help of lucy topaz, is watching toni topaz wither away before her and it’s breaking her apart. 

  
  


but eventually, after a week...with cheryl curled up in her chair with one hand clutching toni’s, the redhead is surprised when the door to toni’s room opens-

  
  


and lucy topaz walks in, carrying a bunch of flowers and a stuffed teddy bear.

  
  


cheryl looks up at her through blurry, puffy eyes, because crying has become a constant for her lately, and a soft gasp escapes her when she sees lucy standing before her. the woman offers her a sad and apologetic smile before she clears her throat and closes the door behind her.

  
  


“hey…” cheryl doesn’t reply, just moves her gaze back to toni, and lucy sighs, but nods in acceptance.

  
  


“yeah, i deserve that.” she murmurs. cheryl hears lucy’s footsteps approach before the smell of cloves and cinnamon and tobacco invades her nostrils the second lucy lays a hand on her shoulder beside her.

  
  


“cheryl...i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have left-.”

  
  


“no, you shouldn’t have. but you don’t need to apologize to me. you need to apologize to  _ her. _ ” cheryl says simply, nodding down at her girlfriend. lucy sighs again before she squeezes cheryl’s shoulder and moves around the bed to toni’s other side, taking her hand into her own and giving it a squeeze.

  
  


“...i’m sorry, t. fuck, i’m so sorry, i-.” lucy chokes on a sob, her words distorting as she collapses into the chair beside her bed and rests their intertwined hands against her forehead, crying into them in anguish. cheryl watches it happen with tears in her own eyes, ones she quickly blinks away with a clear of her throat.

  
  


“i’m sorry, too. i shouldn’t have said what i said but it just-.”

  
  


“no, you were right. maybe if i did stick around, toni wouldn’t have joined the serpents…” lucy whispers, looking up at her with a sad smile...one that cheryl quickly returns.

  
  


“but she would’ve been homeless. and you would’ve been miserable, trying everything you can to keep her fed and clothed and happy.” she whispers. lucy smiles knowingly.

  
  


“maybe...but it would’ve been worth it. anything for her.” lucy says softly, causing cheryl’s heart to break just a little. it’s quiet for a few moments before cheryl nods at her.

  
  


“what made you come back?” she asks. lucy chuckles before she gives cheryl a lopsided smile.

  
  


“i went home. i was just so fucking mad, i didn’t know what else to do, so i went back to new york. and the second i got back to my apartment and my girlfriend opened the door...she saw nobody with me and she asked me what the hell i was doing back there. told me to get back to my sister and not to come back until i had her with me. that my job wasn’t done and i’m not allowed to give up.” she says with a fond smile, no doubt thinking about said girlfriend back home as cheryl finds herself smiling widely.

  
  


_ that’s something toni would do... _

  
  


“sounds like a keeper.” cheryl tells her. lucy laughs loudly.

  
  


“sounds like a pain in my ass, but...she’s right, which she reminded me of, about eighty times before i left. i love her to death, but...pain in the ass.” she mumbles. cheryl chuckles and looks to toni with a fond, but sad smile.

  
  


“yeah...we have our moments, too.” she whispers. lucy sighs, and cheryl watches as she stands before she’s walking over to the black serpent jacket of toni’s on the hook on the wall. she stares at it for awhile before she reaches out and pinches the sleeve between her thumb and forefinger, staring at the green snake with a mix of emotions.

  
  


“this fucking jacket...it’s taken so much from me but given so much to toni. how am i supposed to stare at it with happiness when it brought me nothing but pain?” lucy croaks out. cheryl licks her lips before she responds.

  
  


“remember that it brings  _ her _ happiness. when we got kicked out...toni was devastated. and forming the pretty poisons helped heal the pain a little, but i think...i think there’s always been an irreplaceable hole in her heart that the poisons could never fill. she’s missed them...as i’m sure she’s missed you, too.” cheryl says softly. 

  
  


she watches lucy’s shoulders shake, hears the choked out sob escape her before she’s turning to face cheryl with tears running down her cheeks.

  
  


“...i really fucked up, didn’t i?” she whispers. cheryl sighs, but stands from her seat and makes her way over to lucy, offering a hand to her, which she takes.

  
  


“you’re making up for it now.” she whispers back. lucy smiles as best as she can, more tears falling as she sniffs once and looks at toni with sadness.

  
  


“can i have a minute alone with her, cheryl? i just...i just need-.”

  
  


“take all the time you need. i need some fresh air and some food, anyway.” cheryl says, gripping lucy’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze before she makes her way to the door. she closes it behind her, but she pauses as she passes the window and finds herself looking back in, the sight before her breaking her heart.

  
  


lucy sitting back in her seat beside toni’s bed, but she’s draped over toni’s stomach, clutching one of toni’s hands while the other arm wraps around her small frame, her back jostling with the cries that escape her as she buries her face into the blankets by toni’s stomach. 

  
  


cheryl can’t begin to think how hard it must be for lucy...to be gone for seven years, trying your hardest to get enough money to reunite with your sister, only for it to be so long that you eventually think she’d just be better off without you…

  
  


in a weird way, it reminds her of her and jason...her brother didn’t want to leave, he was murdered by their own father, and she also knows jason was planning on leaving town for polly and the twins, but she has no doubt that he had every intention of coming back for her when he could. that he was going to get money to support his future wife and their children before he’d come back for the sister he left behind.

  
  


isn’t that was lucy is technically doing now?

  
  


how hard must it have been for lucy? to turn on her tv one day and see that an explosion at a diner back home in riverdale had resulted in the death of two people? lucy told her she came running the second she saw it on the news, but that she didn’t know about toni being in the hospital until she got into town and picked up a copy of  _ the riverdale register.  _

  
  


how had it felt to read those words, those words saying  _ ‘antoinette topaz (17), another victim of the blast, has been placed in a medically induced coma, and has yet to wake. we wish her and her family all the best during this trying time’ _ ?

  
  


seeing the way lucy is absolutely hysterical draped over toni’s body, it’s not hard to gauge how her reaction must’ve been to all this news. 

  
  


cheryl blinks back her tears, but decides to give them this moment alone and makes her way outside, wondering just how lucy even found the strength to come back at all.

  
  


but then she remembers it’s toni in that bed…

  
  


and toni topaz is someone worth fighting for.

  
  


\--

  
  


three more weeks go by. toni isn’t any better or any worse. she’s been the same for the past three months now. they were nearing the end of summer. all of their friends were getting ready to take off and go to college and cheryl was still stuck in this hospital, still staring at a lifeless toni. she had called the highsmith college admissions office and informed them of the situation and deferred her and toni for a year. there were no issues, of course, but cheryl can’t help but feel disappointed that she won’t be starting her college years at the same time as her friends.

  
  


and that just leads to anger.

  
  


because she’s getting sick of sitting in this hospital and staring at toni. not because she doesn’t want to be here for her. no, she has no plans to leave toni’s side, whatsoever. but she’s just desperate to have her toni back. she wants to look into her eyes. she wants to hold her hand. she wants to feel her squeeze her hand back. she wants to cuddle with her, wants to see her smile, wants to hear her laugh. wants to have her best friend back to confide in.

  
  


she just wants her to wake up. she needs her to wake up. 

  
  


“hey.” lucy pulls her from her thoughts suddenly when she walks into the hospital room with a new bag of clothes for cheryl in one hand and a tray with two starbucks cups in the other.

  
  


“hey.” cheryl whispers in response as she takes the cup from her. lucy sets her duffel bag on the couch and drops her car keys on the tray next to toni’s bed before sitting down in her chair on the other side of toni’s bed with a loud, exasperated sigh.

  
  


“anything?” lucy asks as she takes a sip of her coffee, her eyes a bit more distant than usual.

  
  


“still the same. no better, no worse.” cheryl rasps, her eyes glossing over but she holds her tears back. lucy chews on her bottom lip before she circles a finger over her coffee cup slowly, jaw clenched tight. 

  
  


“do you believe in a higher power, cheryl?” lucy murmurs suddenly. cheryl looks at her in surprise. she definitely wasn’t expecting her to ask that. 

  
  


“like...God?” cheryl asks, and lucy chuckles before she nods.

  
  


“yeah...or more, y’know...heaven and hell, or wherever we go to when we die.” she says firmly. cheryl chews on the inside of her cheek and shrugs. 

  
  


“i...i don’t know, i wasn’t really raised on any religion and after my time with the sisters…” she trails off, tries not to think of those memories because she doesn’t have toni to talk her through it, to help her fight them off-

  
  


“right...yeah, sorry. stupid thing to ask.” lucy mumbles, taking a sip of her coffee, but cheryl’s curiosity gets the better of her.

  
  


“why are you asking it?” lucy looks up at her with a hard jaw, and a few moments pass in silence.

  
  


“cheryl… it’s been three months.” lucy says slowly. 

  
  


cheryl’s heart sinks.

  
  


no...no, lucy’s her last hope here, she can’t lose her...

  
  


“and?” cheryl snaps, her anger getting the better of her, and lucy scratches at her brow and sighs again.

  
  


“listen, cheryl. i know you know toni better than i do, i’m not disputing that, and you say she’s a fighter, i’m not disputing that, either! but it’s been  _ three months  _ and she’s not getting any better.” 

  
  


“she’s also not getting any worse.” cheryl says firmly, her nails digging into the palm of her hands as she tries to control her anger, she refuses to explode, she can’t-

  
  


“i know, but this long with no improvement… her chances of waking up are-”

  
  


“i don’t give a fuck what her chances are! she’s going to wake up!” cheryl growls, instinctively reaching out to grip toni’s hand in her own almost posessively. lucy looks up at her with tears in her eyes.

  
  


“she might not, cheryl.”

  
  


“shut up…” cheryl shakes her head as she fiddles with her hands in her lap, refusing to listen to what lucy is saying because it’s not true, it’s  _ not _ , toni is going to wake up, she  _ has  _ to-

  
  


“her chances are fifteen percent, cheryl. _ fifteen.” _

  
  


“shut up…”

  
  


“she’s suffering-”

  
  


“what are you trying to say, lucy!?” cheryl screams before she can stop herself.

  
  


“that we should just put her out of her misery! that we shouldn’t let her stay in limbo, in this in-between state! that we should just let her go so she can have peace!” 

  
  


cheryl’s jaw drops and her eyes widen, her vision blurring as her eyes well with tears. she damn near drops her coffee cup on the floor. 

  
  


there's no way lucy just said what she said. there’s absolutely no way she just said they should pull the plug. there’s no way that she just said they should give up on toni.

  
  


no way.

  
  


lucy is crying, cheryl can see that, and cheryl can also see how her eyes are wide like she’s regretting what she just said, but all cheryl can register is that she just said they should let toni go.

  
  


she thought lucy was on her side...but she’s not. she’s on her own, all over again.

  
  


“get out.” cheryl mumbles as she clenches her jaw and her facial expression hardens, her eyes moving over to toni once more.

  
  


“cheryl-”

  
  


“GET OUT!” cheryl snaps as her tears fall freely, refusing to look at lucy at all.

  
  


“cheryl, wait, we should talk about this, please-”

  
  


“you want to give up on her, fine! but i will not! i will never give up on her! it's clear you don’t love her like i do, so if you wanna give up on her then go! you already left her once, might as well do it again, right? you know how to!” cheryl roars, jumping up out of her seat so fast and so hard, the seat topples over and lands with a dull thud behind her.

  
  


lucy looks at her in shock, pain heavy in her eyes, but cheryl only thinks about her anger.

  
  


“cheryl-”

  
  


“GO! GET THE FUCK OUT!” cheryl screams, pointing at the door and almost standing over toni protectively, like lucy’s about to wrap her damn hands around toni’s throat to choke the life out of her.

  
  


she won’t let anyone touch her toni.

  
  


lucy stares at cheryl for a few moments, her own tears rolling down her face. she bites her lip and nods slowly before she picks her keys back up off the tray, grabs her duffel bag and walks out of the room.

  
  


she leaves...again.

  
  


and when the door closes, cheryl breaks down. she scoots her chair closer to toni’s bed and grips her hand, squeezing firmly and rocking back and forth slightly. she presses her lips to the back of her hand as she sobs, shoulders shaking and wheezing between breaths. 

  
  


“t-toni... t-toni, please. come back to me, baby. please- please come back to me.” cheryl begs. “just open your eyes, toni. open your eyes baby, come on. please... wake up. just… wake up.” she pleads desperately, a fist pounding lightly into toni’s hip as if it’ll wake her up.

  
  


“come on, wake up... wake up. wake up. wake up… wake up p-please! wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!” cheryl collapses, resting her head on toni’s stomach as she cries loudly and pounds her fist against toni’s stomach now, but nothing works.

  
  


that heart monitor stays the same, and toni remains as docile as ever. 

  
  


three months...she knows it’s been long, too long, but she can’t give up, she just  _ can’t.  _ toni never gave up on her...what kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn’t do the same?

  
  


the idea of living in a world where toni topaz doesn’t exist isn’t possible. not for her. not for cheryl blossom...

  
  


she doesn't know how long she’s crying for but she eventually feels hands on her shoulders and feels herself being lifted up. she wants to fight it, but she’s so exhausted, her eyes shut tightly so she doesn't even know who it is, but she’s being pulled into a hug and wraps her arms around whoever it is and clutches them tightly, not even caring who it is anymore, she just needs to feel  _ someone hug her back. _

  
  


and when she draws in a shaky breath and inhales the scent of cloves and cinnamon and tobacco, she realizes it’s lucy.

  
  


“i’m sorry, cheryl. i’m so s-sorry. i didn’t mean it. i’m just so...so fucking  _ frustrated _ , and i h-hate seeing her like this. but i’m not giving up on her, you hear me? i’m not giving up on her. she’s held on this long, she’s fighting for her life, so i’m going to fight for her, too. i’m sorry. and i’m n-never leaving again. i just...i’m so tired of seeing her like this.” lucy says through clenched teeth as she tightens her hold on the sobbing girl in her arms.

  
  


“i’m t-tired, too…i’m so tired...” cheryl whispers, sniffing back her tears before she’s breaking down into sobs once again. she hasn’t slept in a proper bed in months, her clothes barely fit her anymore, she’s not getting proper meals, every-fucking-thing in cheryl’s life has just been  _ toni, toni, toni,  _ for three months now and she’s so...so, so tired…

  
  
  


“shh...i know, i know you are, honey, shh…” lucy coos gently, more tears falling, but all she can do is just rub her back in gentle circles and hold her close, guilt flooding her for ever even suggesting what she did before something catches her attention.

  
  


toni’s hand twitches.

  
  


lucy frowns, but doctor phillips’s words about twitches being involuntary circles back into her mind, and she tries to focus on helping cheryl calm down, but then…

  
  


toni’s hand twitches again.

  
  


lucy’s eyes widen, her heart racing wildly.

  
  


“cheryl…” lucy barely gets out before the heart rate monitor suddenly begins to beep a little more erratically.

  
  


“holy shit...cheryl!” lucy pulls the girl off her body and spins her around to face toni, whose eyes are beginning to flutter, her hand twitching more and more-

  
  


“oh my god! oh my god-.”

  
  


“i’ll get doctor phillips!” lucy shouts before she’s rushing out of the room, and cheryl’s frozen in shock as toni’s eyes fly open and a choking sound echoes out-

  
  


the tube in her throat, oh fuck-

  
  


“toni! toni, hey, hey, don’t panic!” cheryl rushes forward, one hand grabbing toni’s and the other flying to cup her cheek as toni’s eyes flutter again before they open.

  
  


and land on cheryl.

  
  


her eyes, filled with panic, immediately calm, the hand in cheryl’s suddenly gripping tightly, and all cheryl can do is stare into those brown eyes before-

  
  


“oh my god! toni, i-okay, just-j-just try not to p-panic, okay!? i’m here, okay, baby? i’m r-right here, the doctors are gonna come and take it out, i’m right here, t.t!” 

  
  


three months...three months, toni’s awake, she’s awake-

  
  


cheryl’s still sobbing despite how hard she’s trying not to, but it’s tears of joy now as toni squeezes her eyes shut and grunts, gripping cheryl’s hand tighter-

  
  


the door slams open, and cheryl spins around to see doctor phillips looking at toni in dumbfounded shock before he’s running forward quickly.

  
  


“miss topaz! stay calm, try to relax your throat! i’m gonna remove the tube, just keep breathing normally as best as you can!” toni blinks once as if to tell the doctor she understands, and doctor phillips takes the tape off of the tube keeping it to her mouth before he slowly begins to pull it upwards.

  
  


toni chokes, eyes squeezing shut again and a tear leaking from the corner of one as she tightens her hold on cheryl’s hand.

  
  


“i’m right here, baby! breathe, you can do it!” cheryl cries out, sniffing back tears and snot and god knows what else as the tube is finally removed from toni’s throat. the girl splutters wildly, gasps in deep breaths of air before she’s sinking back against her pillow and looking up at cheryl through her eyelashes.

  
  


“ch-cheryl?” she manages to rasp out, her voice barely even audible. cheryl grips toni’s face in her hands and leans down to kiss the corner of her mouth, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks rapidly.

  
  


“hey...hi, hi baby, hi…” she whispers, brushing her fingers over toni’s face, mapping out every single detail, and toni even manages a small smile up at her girlfriend before she’s frowning once more.

  
  


“what...what’s going...on, where am i?” toni speaks slowly, finding it difficult to talk, and even those few words have her coughing loudly with a wince.

  
  


“shhh, try not to talk...t.t, there...there was an explosion at pop’s, do you remember?” cheryl asks softly. toni’s frown deepens, and very, very slowly, like she’s having difficulty remembering how to do so, she lifts a hand, drags it up her chest and wraps her fingers lightly around her own throat with a whine.

  
  


“i...i remember... feeling… the floor shake...what happened?” she manages to get out, her voice sounding worse and worse by the second. cheryl hesitates.

  
  


this news could devastate her...

  
  


“oh, t.t...i’m afraid to tell you. i don’t want you to panic, but...you were hurt pretty badly, baby.” cheryl says, running her fingers through toni’s pink locks tenderly as her girlfriend looks up at her in surprise.

  
  


“how... b _ - _ badly?” cheryl exchanges a glance with doctor phillips beside her, then glances around the room with a frown before she spots lucy by the door, looking as nervous as ever as she glances at toni. 

  
  


“you suffered from a subdural hematoma, miss topaz. in other words...you got knocked on the head during the incident, and your brain began bleeding. we performed surgery and managed to stop the bleed, but it was bleeding not only for a long time, but severely. we placed you in an induced coma. it’s a miracle you’re awake and an even bigger miracle that you’re talking so soon, given the severity of your injury. look here, please.” doctor phillips says with a frown, raising one finger and flashing a light in front of her eyes that has toni squinting slightly before she does as he asks.

  
  


“pupils are responsive...can you squeeze my hands?” he asks, gripping toni’s and smiling as soon as she squeezes them as best as she can.

  
  


“good, good, wiggle your toes for me?” he asks, pulling the blankets up to reveal her feet, and all ten toes wiggling. 

  
  


“very good, miss topaz, and can you tell me if you feel that?” he asks, suddenly pulling a pen from his lab coat pocket and pressing it to the arch of the bottom of her foot.

  
  


“yeah, i f-feel it, but..a coma? i was in a coma?” toni asks, gripping her throat again and letting out another rough cough as cheryl sighs and grips toni’s hand in her own.

“toni, shh, look at me-.”

“cheryl, how long...have i been...out for?” toni rasps out, looking back and forth between doctor phillips and cheryl, and the doctor looks up at cheryl with a heavy sigh before he nods.

“i’ll come back in ten minutes to run more tests...give you a moment to explain.” he murmurs. cheryl nods in thanks, and looks back down at toni, who is still staring up at her with tears in her eyes as doctor phillips leaves the room.

_ just tell her, cheryl... _

__

“three months. you’ve been out for three months, toni.” cheryl says gently and toni’s heart monitor beeps faster as she tries to move but she finds that very difficult to do as well, her eyes wide and her chest heaving with panicked breaths.

  
  


“toni, hey, shhh,  _ just relax,  _ it’s okay, baby, you’re awake, you’re...god, you’re awake, you’re here!” cheryl says with a breathless laugh, squeezing both of toni’s hands as she whines and swallows thickly with a wince.

  
  


“ch-cher-fuck…” toni rasps and coughs dryly as she blinks slowly, clutching her throat again, and cheryl looks around wildly for the cup and jug that’s always in her room.

  
  


“let me get you some water-.”

  
  


“i got it, cheryl.” lucy says suddenly, the sound of her footsteps echoing out behind her as cheryl spins around to see her pouring water into a cup for toni. she pauses as she sets the jug down before she squares her shoulders and makes her way over to the other side of toni’s bed.

  
  


“here, t, drink up…” she says softly, gripping the straw in the cup and holding it up to toni.

  
  


toni furrows her brows at the unfamiliar voice and she turns her head slowly to the sound. she squints her eyes and it takes her brain a while to register who it is, as she drinks the water through the straw that’s held up to her lips, eyes still on lucy.

  
  


“toni, baby, you know who this is?” cheryl asks, smiling up at the two long lost sisters as lucy blinks back tears and smiles down at her sister.

  
  


“i- you-” is all toni can get out, and cheryl can see she’s struggling to speak now, is staring at lucy like she  _ maybe  _ knows who she is but she can’t quite get her brain to connect the dots she’s meant to be connecting... 

  
  


“try talking to her,” cheryl says to lucy, who nods once and looks down at toni once more.

  
  


“hey, sis… it’s me.” lucy says with a lopsided smile, reaching out to brush her hair back from her face.

  
  


suddenly, toni’s eyes widen and her heart monitor starts to beat faster, her chest heaving with quick breaths. 

  
  


“l-lucy?” she forces out. 

  
  


“yeah...long time no see.” lucy says with a chuckle, but toni looks anything but amused.

  
  


“wh-what… the hell… are you… d-doing here?” toni breathes out. lucy sighs and reaches down to grip one of toni’s hands.

  
  


“i heard there was an explosion so i came back to make sure you were okay and i saw in the paper that you were in a coma. i- i had to see you-.” lucy suddenly trails off as toni moves her hand out of lucy’s grip with a shake of her head.

  
  


“you... you…” toni tries to force out but she finds herself unable to form any words. oh, but she’s mad, cheryl can see it in her eyes, and in the way her heart monitor starts to beat even faster.

  
  


“baby, take it easy.” cheryl coos as she gently scratches at toni’s scalp.

  
  


“g-get…” toni says, her voice barely above a whisper. she tries to mouth the next words she wants to say but unable to force them out.

  
  


“what?” lucy asks as she leans closer to toni with a frown.

  
  


“g-get…” toni tries to say again but her breathing gets heavier, borderline wheezing as she clutches her throat.

  
  


“breathe, toni, just breathe-.” cheryl starts, but toni suddenly glares at lucy through bared teeth before-

  
  


“get… the fuck… out.” toni breaths, her eyes fluttering closed as if that one sentence drained all of her energy.

  
  


lucy’s eyes widen, and cheryl feels her own heart drop as lucy lets out a whine and shakes her head.

  
  


“what? toni no… i-i know i haven’t been around but i promised i wouldn’t leave again-” lucy pleads as her eyes start to well with tears, but toni is shaking her head once again.

  
  


“get out!” toni tries to yell but it results in her having a coughing fit as her heart rate spikes and she wheezes between coughs, cheryl’s hands gripping her shoulders tightly. 

  
  


“toni, baby, just relax, breathe.” cheryl tries to calm her down but to no avail.

  
  


“go!” toni forces out one last time but her voice is so small, it breaks cheryl’s heart. 

  
  


“cheryl...” lucy looks at cheryl with pleading eyes, begging her to do something to change toni’s mind, and cheryl takes one look at toni, still suffering from her coughing attack and struggling to breath, then looks back up at lucy with eyes full of guilt.

  
  


“i’m so sorry lucy, but right now you’re… you’re just making it worse. please leave… i’m sorry.” 

  
  


cheryl feels bad. she knows lucy doesn't want to leave after just promising that she’s not leaving again. and part of cheryl doesn’t want her to leave, either. she’s been sitting in this hospital room almost as long as she has. but toni is her main priority, and she always will be.

  
  


if toni doesn’t want her here...

  
  


lucy just nods, her eyes dropping to the floor. she sniffs back her tears as she heads for the door, the sound of her hair rings and cuffs clacking together echoing out, and she turns back to look at cheryl, who mouths ‘sorry’ before she leaves the hospital room, closing the door shut behind her as she does.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii, so turns out, we've got more story to tell! so instead of 3 chapters, we'll probably be doing 4 or 5, we're still seeing where we go with it sksksks BUT WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS ONE IT'S SAD BUT ALSO HEALING! 
> 
> twitter: @endofdaysforme/@topazgotjuice

toni’s recovery is long and difficult. 

  
  


after three months being bed bound, it takes her a while to will her limbs into moving again, but after weeks of physical therapy, toni gets the hang of it again. she manages to move past the pain and exhaustion and shock of being in a coma for three months...at least on the surface.

cheryl, of course, still doesn't know how she's doing mentally, but she figures she can wait to address that issue later, when toni recovers physically first at least.

it takes three days to get her up out of bed, and a week to get her walking down the hallways of the hospital. toni fights with everything in her, and cheryl couldn't be prouder. 

when cheryl informs her of jughead and pop tate’s deaths, she mourns and cries and cheryl holds her close and kisses the top of her head and promises her that everything will be okay, even if she has no idea if it will be. everyone comes to visit her, to share their relief in her recovery in the following weeks, and toni smiles and laughs and looks happier and healthier than ever before. she takes back her serpent jacket and the serpents themselves with open arms, and asks f.p if the poisons and the serpents can merge, to which he agrees easily.

  
  


the poisons are a bit disgruntled, particularly peaches, but seeing their leader awake and alive again when they visit makes them agree quickly and without hesitation. f.p also appoints toni his co-lead/right hand woman, promises her a position as a leader once she's recovered, and to say toni cries with tears of joy is an understatement. toni's happy, her friends are happy...everyone is just ecstatic to see that the explosion at pop's didn't result in complete disaster...toni is the ray of hope. 

the one person who doesn’t visit is lucy.

  
  


but not because she doesn’t want to.

  
  


every single day for the last three weeks since toni woke up, lucy has texted cheryl asking if toni’s changed her mind, if she can come and see her sister, and every single day when cheryl looks up at toni pleadingly and receives a simple “no” or “tell her to fuck off” in response, cheryl is forced to text lucy back and tell her that toni’s not ready to see her. 

  
  


but lucy still comes to the hospital every day regardless at three in the afternoon sharp, meets cheryl outside and sits on the curb of the parking lot while cheryl gives her any updates, smoking a cigarette and listening intently before hugging cheryl and thanking her for putting up with her insistence.

  
  


cheryl doesn’t mind. lucy is toni’s sister...her family. even if toni doesn’t see that right now.

  
  


doctor phillips performs test after test to try and explain toni’s sudden resurgence, but there is no explanation to be had. she was in a coma, her body healed, and now she’s not in one anymore. plain and simple.

  
  


it’s just the fact that toni had a fifteen percent chance of waking up and somehow  _ still  _ managed to beat the odds that baffles him.

  
  


but it doesn’t baffle cheryl. toni’s a fighter, she’s known that from day one. she knew toni would come out of this and the fact that she has just makes the victory all the more better. 

  
  


they go for walks around and outside the hospital, and while the conversations are easy, because cheryl and toni’s conversations have always been easy, and cheryl catches toni up on everything she’s missed, there’s a big fat elephant in the room that cheryl knows she needs to address, but that part of her doesn’t want to.

  
  


she doesn’t want to ruin toni’s happiness or halt her progress in healing by talking about lucy, but the way toni dismissed her so harshly...it just doesn’t seem fair.

  
  


she understands toni’s anger, and she’s not disputing it one bit, but lucy was here  _ now,  _ had stayed by her side for three goddamn months, and yes, maybe there were some bumps in the road but she still stayed. 

  
  


it’s more than what cheryl can say about anyone she knows. she’s positive if their situations were reversed and she was the one in the coma for three months, she’d have one visitor and one visitor only: toni.

  
  


her father was dead, so was her brother, her mother would probably rejoice in her being in a coma and would do everything possible to prolong her torture, and yes, perhaps her friends would come visit, but it’s not like she’s close with any of them. they’d likely forget her after the first few weeks…

  
  


but lucy stayed. lucy took care of cheryl, too, helped her not lose her goddamn mind during all of this...she’s trying. that’s more than cheryl can say for anyone else.

  
  


toni is discharged by the time the summer holidays are almost over, and everything seems to come crashing down on her when they get back to thistlehouse, the both of them rejoicing in the feeling of coming home, because cheryl hasn’t been back here in three months, either.

  
  


kevin drops them off in his car with fangs in the passenger seat, their fingers intertwined and resting in fangs’ lap. the tragedy three months ago may have separated some people but for the two boys it has brought them back together in a much stronger and healthier relationship than when they were together during the farm madness. 

  
  


so that’s where they are now, the two boys in the front with smiles and cheryl and toni cuddled in the back, cheryl’s arms wrapped around the pink haired girl tightly, because it’s still so surreal to her that toni’s awake and up and moving again despite the now four weeks of proof right in front of her. toni smiles contently and leans into her touch as cheryl presses a kiss to the back of her head, and as soon as they pull up to thistlehouse, cheryl’s looking up at the house with a feeling of guilt that she hasn’t stepped foot in this house since the incident.

  
  


she couldn’t bring it in her to leave toni’s side, but not only that...the idea of going into their room without toni with her, of smelling her scent on the pillow without any clue on if she was going to wake up or not…

  
  


yeah, cheryl’s positive if she had done that, she would’ve completely lost her mind a long time ago.

  
  


of course, she knows nana rose won’t be impressed, but her carer has been paid extra to stay by her side while cheryl’s been gone, so it won’t be too bad.

  
  


hopefully.

  
  


“whoa...weird to think that in my head it’s only been a month since we came home but in reality it’s been like four.” toni grumbles, shivering slightly against cheryl before she’s clearing her throat and shuffling sideways to open the door to get out. cheryl exchanges a glance with fangs in the rearview mirror before she’s jumping out of the car after her. 

  
  


toni hasn’t spoken about being in a coma for three months or how she feels about it yet, and cheryl doesn’t want to push her. she knows it’s jarring to be unconscious for three months straight, to be making out with your girlfriend in a closet one second and suddenly opening your eyes to find yourself in a hospital bed with your distraught girlfriend and your long lost sister staring at you like you’ve grown a third head. she knows toni will talk to her when she’s ready.

  
  


but still-

  
  


“it’s okay, t.t. we’re here now, that’s what matters.” cheryl tells her with a smile, and toni simply grimaces and nods once before she’s making her way to the front door with cheryl trailing behind her while kevin and fangs load their bags out of the car. 

  
  


cheryl unlocks the front door and they enter the home that neither of them have stepped foot in since the accident. cheryl sighs in relief at the familiarity of being back here with the love of her life, awake and alive once more. but toni looks…well, she can’t quite read her expression, and that's a first.

  
  


“welcome back home baby.” cheryl says softly, trying to pull some kind of reaction from her, but when toni just gives her a tiny smile in response cheryl accepts it. it's better than nothing.

  
  


just then, nana rose’s caretaker appears from down the hall with a bright smile on her face. 

  
  


“cheryl, toni, welcome back! so good to have you with us again! i was so happy to hear about your recovery, toni!” she greets cheerfully, giving toni a tight hug as the pink haired girl simply nods. 

  
  


“good to be back.” toni offers with a tight lipped smile. cheryl’s brows twitch forward at toni’s reaction. she thought toni would be elated to be back home. she sure was happy when they discharged her from the hospital, and the way she all but jumped out of the car just now. but it's like the second they stepped through the door something changed and cheryl doesn’t know what. but she doesn’t question it...yet.

  
  


“thank you so much, janice, for staying here with nana rose. you have no idea how big of a help you have been.” cheryl says with a smile, and the older woman chuckles and waves her hand nonchalantly.

  
  


“oh nonsense, cheryl. i’m more than happy to help. i’m just glad toni is alright and that you are both finally back home.” she says warmly. 

  
  


“so am i.” cheryl smiles, looking back to kevin and fangs as they finally follow suite inside the house.

  
  


“well, i’ll let you get settled in. i’ll be sticking around for the rest of the day so if you need anything just let me know.” janice tells them.

  
  


“thank you so much.” cheryl says as the carer grips cheryl's arm and squeezes with a smile.

  
  


cheryl and toni head for the staircase, kevin and fangs, who are carrying both cheryl and toni’s bags, following them. but when they reach the bottom of the staircase, toni stops. cheryl turns to look at her as she looks up at the staircase with a hesitant expression, almost like the task of walking up them is daunting. 

  
  


“you need help, my love?” cheryl asks as she slides her hand across toni’s lower back, but toni is immediately shaking her head and stepping out of her grip.

  
  


“i need to learn how to do stuff on my own again.” toni protests, eyes filled with determination.

  
  


“i know babe, but you had a pretty intense physical therapy this morning and you-”

  
  


“i got it, cheryl.” toni snaps, and cheryl raises her hands in surrender, knowing not to push her buttons.

  
  


“okay...okay.” cheryl concedes. 

  
  


but still, she stands behind toni as the girl grabs onto the railing and grunts as she pulls herself up to the first step. she looks behind her at kevin and fangs, who watch with worry, and they all move with her slowly. no matter how strong the urge is, cheryl doesn't dare touch toni or try to help her, allowing her to do it on her own. but by the time they reach the second floor, toni is breathing heavily, little drops of sweat beading her forehead. 

  
  


and as much as she wants to protest, she accepts the hand that is wrapped around her waist and lets cheryl help her the rest of the way to the bedroom. she helps her sit down and toni drops to the bed with a huff. and even though she’s winded the smallest smile creeps up on her face once she feels the softness of the mattress below her.

  
  


there’s a look of home in her eyes that immediately has cheryl smiling, and she turns to kevin and fangs as they drop their bags by the door, the both of them also watching toni fondly.

  
  


“she looks happy. you both do.” fangs says softly, and cheryl reaches out to grip his hand in her own tightly.

  
  


“we’re home. why wouldn’t we be?” she whispers back. fangs pulls her into a hug, one cheryl happily accepts before kevin suddenly leans forward to press a kiss to her brow.

  
  


“we’ll leave you two alone, give you time to get sorted. we’re just a phone call away, alright?” he reminds her, and cheryl nods once against fangs’s shoulder before both boys say a simple goodbye to toni, who is still looking around the room with slumped shoulders from exhaustion.

  
  


once they leave, cheryl turns to toni, and her brows furrow as she notices her, still sitting on the edge of the bed, struggling to keep her eyes open.

  
  


“why don’t you take a nap, baby?” cheryl suggests softly, making her way over to the pink haired girl slowly. 

  
  


“i’ve been asleep for three months, the last thing i wanna do right now is sleep.” toni says as she tries to fight back a yawn, and cheryl just giggles.

  
  


“even if you hadn't just been in a coma, with the intense workout you did today, it’s normal to want a rejuvenating nap. plus, your body is still healing. if it’s telling you to rest then you should listen to it.”

  
  


“cheryl-” toni tries to protest but cheryl interrupts her before she gets the chance to, stopping in front of her girlfriend and reaching out to rake her fingers through those pink curls she adores so much.

  
  


“baby, please. just sleep for a little while and i’ll wake you in an hour or so.” she whispers softly, tucking a finger under toni’s chin to lift her gaze.

  
  


toni hesitates but eventually nods her head in agreement against her hand and allows cheryl to help her remove her shoes and help her into the bed. as they both settle into it, cheryl has to bite back a moan at the feeling of the soft mattress beneath her, so used to sleeping on a hard, lumpy couch and hospital pillows for three months instead of the goose feathered ones she’s resting her head on now, and she has to admit, she has really missed sleeping in her own bed. it’s obvious, by the way toni’s eyes are immediately falling shut the second she rests her head on her own pillow, that she feels the same way. 

  
  


“so much better than a hospital bed.” she mumbles sleepily, and cheryl chuckles before she leans in a little closer and wraps an arm around toni’s waist from behind.

  
  


and to her surprise, the pink haired girl tenses a little in her arms. 

  
  


“cheryl, you…you don’t have to stay with me if you don’t want to.” toni murmurs. cheryl blinks once in surprise behind her and stares at the back of her head. 

  
  


“are you kidding? it’s been three months since i’ve been able to cuddle you. i’m not leaving.” she says simply. 

  
  


toni doesn’t answer. she just pauses for a moment before she relaxes and snuggles deeper into cheryl’s embrace, and cheryl places a kiss to the back of her head before she’s nuzzling her nose into it, the scent of vanilla shampoo invading her senses. not even ten minutes later, toni’s breathing is calm and even, and cheryl knows she’s fast asleep.

  
  


cheryl stays there and doesn’t move, holding toni for about twenty minutes, just listening to the soft sounds of her breathing before she gently detangles herself from toni and slowly climbs out of the bed. she doesn’t want to leave the bed, but she figures she might as well get a few things out of the way so that she can devote all her time to caring for toni once she wakes back up. 

  
  


the first thing cheryl does is take a shower. the first proper shower she’s taken since the accident. she had showered at the hospital, but she was in and out so fast just in case toni woke up while she was gone. 

  
  


she sighs in relief as she feels the hot flow of the water hit her body. it feels so much better being able to shower in her own bathroom. she takes her time, thoroughly washing her body and hair and relishing in the feeling of, well...feeling human again.

  
  


she’s missed this feeling.

  
  


when she steps out of the shower, she feels so refreshed, it’s insane. she dries herself off and wraps her wet hair up in a towel instead of blow drying it so she doesn't wake her girlfriend.

  
  


the next thing she does is take hers and toni’s dirty clothes and throw them into the washing machine before moving into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. because she also hasn’t had a proper home cooked meal since the accident, living off hospital food and vending machine snacks and whatever lucy brought with her when she went to get takeout. janice offers to cook her something, but she refuses, wanting to prepare her own meal. she ends up cooking pasta, makes enough for toni as well and leaves her plate in the microwave for her to eat when she wakes up from her nap.

  
  


the last thing she does is go to nana rose’s room to visit with her. she apologizes for not being home, but nana rose graciously tells her that no apology is necessary and that she’s proud of her for sticking by toni’s side. she stays and talks to nana rose for a good while, talks of how the past three months have been, and she sets an alarm to go off from about two hours after toni fell asleep so she can wake her. 

  
  


but another alarm beats her to the punch.

  
  


her heart drops when she hears a piercing scream coming from down the hall. it was toni. cheryl hops out of her chair and runs out of nana rose’s room. she sprints down the hall and into the bedroom and her heart breaks at the sight of toni, sweating and thrashing in the bed, clearly having a nightmare. 

  
  


cheryl feels panic grip her, and she sits on the edge of bed and grabs toni’s shoulders, shaking her gently to wake her, trying not to hurt her still healing body.

  
  


“toni! toni, baby, wake up! toni!”

  
  


toni’s eyes snap open with a loud gasp and cheryl sees nothing but fear in her eyes, her bottom lip quivering as she tries to fight cheryl off. 

  
  


“toni, it’s me, baby! it’s me!” cheryl says as she cups toni’s cheeks with concern, and the girl’s face softens as she meets cheryl’s eyes and realizes she’s safe in her room, in cheryl’s arms. 

  
  


“i- i was b-back there. in the h-hospital. i was awake and i- i couldn’t move. i tried but i c-couldn’t move. and y-you were gone i-” toni chokes out with a shake of her head, but cheryl presses a kiss between her eyes to calm her.

  
  


“shh shh, you’re okay, baby. you’re okay.” cheryl coos as she rakes her fingers through toni’s hair. 

  
  


toni’s bottom lip quivers again, and cheryl quickly lays down on the bed and scoops her into her arms before toni’s suddenly sobbing into her chest.

  
  


“it’s okay, baby. it’s okay.” cheryl holds toni tightly in her arms, pressing kiss after kiss to the top of her head, while continuously telling her it’s okay.

  
  


toni ends up falling asleep again, and cheryl’s heart aches for her girlfriend. she finally thought they were out of the ball park now that toni is awake, but if anything its just as hard as toni deals with the aftermath of what happened to her. she hates that she’s still suffering. and maybe if she could get toni to talk about it, it could help. but she doesn't want to push her. she wants her to talk about it on her own.

  
  


because that’s what they do. they don’t push each other, not since the fight they had before the musical that lead to them breaking up for a brief period of time. communication, that’s what they strive for in their relationship. cheryl’s not about to compromise that now.

  
  


a few minutes after toni falls back asleep, cheryl’s phone vibrates from where it’s sat on the nightstand. she stretches her arm out while keeping the other wrapped around toni to grab it and she sees a text from lucy.

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ hey, how is she?  _

  
  


cheryl sighs as she types her reply quickly with one hand.

  
  


**[you]**

_ not good, unfortunately. she was napping and just woke up from a horrid nightmare. i got her back to sleep, though. _

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ shit...she had nightmares a lot when we were kids, too. is she happy to be back home at least? _

  
  


**[you]**

_ honestly, i’m not sure. it’s hard to read her emotions right now. _

  
  


cheryl watches the three dots for a few seconds before lucy’s next message comes in, and her heart aches.

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ i really wish i could be there for her. _

  
  


**[you]**

_ i know, i wish you could be here too. i’ll try and talk to her later tonight. _

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ thank you, cheryl. for everything. _

  
  


cheryl chews on her bottom lip and is about to reply when she feels toni begin fussing slightly in her arms, a soft, but high pitched whine escaping her girlfriend, and cheryl presses a kiss to the top of her head to try and relax her, but toni begins moving a little harder now, those whines turning into whimpers as her face screws up in what looks like panic and pain.

  
  


cheryl feels herself beginning to panic, and she looks down at her phone before-

  
  


**[you]**

_ she’s fussing in her sleep, i think she’s having another nightmare, i don’t know what to do! _

  
  


cheryl watches those three dots come back up, then stop, then come back up, then stop as toni’s thrashing gets worse, and then suddenly…

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ run the tip of your finger down the length of her nose and above her eyebrows really gently and hum the theme song to the powerpuff girls if you know it...it used to calm her down when we were kids and she’d have nightmares. _

  
  


cheryl frowns, but drops her phone down into the empty space behind her and slowly rolls toni over to her side a little more, separating them gently before she’s lifting a hand and ever so softly trailing the tip of her index finger down toni’s nose, her face screwed up in concentration as she tries to recall the theme song of the popular children’s tv show she herself watched as a kid. she hums the tune under her breath, a smile slowly lifting her lips as toni slowly but surely begins to stop fussing, her face relaxing under her touch and her body becoming still once more. 

  
  


a couple minutes pass before cheryl feels her phone vibrate behind her, and she stops trailing her fingers over toni’s face, but continues humming the song as she reaches behind her for it and sees lucy’s messaging again.

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ did it work? _

cheryl smiles sadly and quickly types out a reply.

  
  


**[you]**

_ yes. thank you, lucy. you’re a lifesaver.  _

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ happy to help, xo. _

  
  


cheryl sighs, stares down at her girlfriend and wonders just why she’s so resistant to repairing the relationship with her sister when it seems like lucy never truly forgot toni for a second of the last seven years she’s spent away from her, wonders why toni never said a word about her, but quickly decides these are all questions she can get answers to later when toni begins fussing once more.

  
  


so cheryl just trails her finger over toni’s nose once more, humming that theme song under her breath and smiling when toni begins to settle once more, content to stay here for as long as she needs to while her girlfriend rests and recovers. 

  
  


\--

  
  


toni ends up waking up well into the evening, the sound of thunder and rain beginning to rumble outside that indicates to cheryl they will be spending the night in, not that she minds, of course.

  
  


she does, however, receive a text from veronica about the grand re-opening of pop’s diner, telling her that it will be held next weekend as refurbishment has finally been completed on the place, and tells her that she has plans to pick up their maple rum business again once they get back on their feet, something cheryl tells her she’s happy to discuss with her another time because right now she wants to focus on toni.

  
  


but toni obviously asks her what the constant texting back and forth is as she heats up the meal cheryl had prepared earlier in the day in the microwave, and when cheryl tells her that she’s planning on taking over the maple rum business for veronica while the latter attends college because, well, she defered herself and toni for a year from highsmith because she wasn’t sure what was going to happen or if toni was going to wake up and wants to discuss it with her first, toni’s expression turns stony before she’s clenching her jaw and nodding once, facing the microwave without another word. 

  
  


a slightly uncomfortable silence settles in as cheryl just watches toni eat. after toni woke from her second nap, she acted as if her nightmare and long minutes of crying didn’t happen. cheryl wants to ask her, needs to ask her, if she’s okay. she’s hesitant to, not wanting to break the peace toni seems to be in right now. but seeing toni have that nightmare terrified her, and the way she screamed was still echoing in her head. she needs to ask her.

  
  


“hey, toni?” she eventually manages to get out as toni twirls her fork into the pasta and takes a mouthful.

  
  


“hmm?” she hums as she chews on her food, still looking at her phone and likely looking at the thousands of notifications of people saying they’re happy she’s back on social media.

  
  


“are…are you okay?” cheryl asks with slight hesitation, and toni swallows her mouthful of food before she answers, barely looking up at cheryl from her phone.

  
  


“yeah...why wouldn’t i be?” she answers nonchalantly, and cheryl’s squints her eyes at her in suspicion.

  
  


her tone sounds way too cavalier. 

  
  


“you sure? cause that nightmare you had earlier tells me otherwise.” cheryl says simply, and toni finally manages to smile up at her with a soft chuckle.

  
  


“everyone has nightmares, babe. i’m fine.” she rasps, looking back down at her phone as she takes a sip of her water.

  
  


cheryl just stares at her again as she goes back to eating. she knows toni is not fine. what she doesn't know is why toni won't open up to her.

"toni...you know you can talk to me. about anything-."

"i know that, cheryl. of course i do, it's just...I don't know how to explain where i'm at right now. it's just weird to one day be in may and then it feels like seconds have passed and suddenly it's the beginning of august and your whole summer vacation has gone by. i feel like we graduated yesterday, but we didn't, and it's just jarring." toni says with a sigh, scratching at her eyebrow before she's swallowing loudly.

"and for jughead to be alive one second and dead the next...for pop tate, too...it's hard. but it's something i can explain because i don't understand it myself. I just feel...weird. like this big, cataclysmic thing happened that changed all of our lives and i didn't witness it. it feels like it didn't happen, but it did. and the fact that you were alone for three months..." toni trails off, tears welling in her eyes as cheryl sighs and reaches out to take her hand. 

"i wasn't alone. i had...well, i had lucy." cheryl says hesitantly. toni quickly takes her hand out of cheryl's with a scoff.

"yeah, right..." she grumbles, but says nothing more, poking at her food, and cheryl chews on the inside of her cheek and watches her for a few moments. 

  
  


she’s about to continue her gentle probing when suddenly cheryl’s phone vibrates on the table and she picks it up to see who it is.

  
  


**[lucy]**

_ hey...look, i’m thinking i’m just gonna head back home. it’s been a month now and i don’t have an endless supply of money to keep staying at this hotel. i wanna stay, but if toni doesn’t want me here, i just don’t see a point. please, please, please look after her, cheryl, and yourself. and keep me updated. if either of you need anything, don’t hesitate to contact me. i’ll be by both your sides in the blink of an eye. tell toni i love her, and for the record...i love you, too. stay safe, xo. _

  
  


“who’s that?” toni asks, clearly noticing the way cheryl is looking at her phone in shock for a good minute, reading and re-reading the message over and over again.

  
  


cheryl hesitates before she answers.

  
  


“uh, it’s actually lucy.” cheryl manages to get out, and toni’s eyes immediately harden.

  
  


“well, tell her to fuck off.” toni says through bared teeth, her jaw clenched in anger. cheryl stares at her in disbelief.

  
  


“she’s just checking up on you-”

  
  


“i don’t give a fuck what she’s doing. tell her to fuck off.” toni says again more firmly.

  
  


“don’t you think you’re being a little harsh?” cheryl asks a little loudly in her own anger, and toni suddenly drops her fork onto her plate, the loud clinking sound causing cheryl to flinch.

  
  


“no i don’t think i am!” she snaps, her eyes dragging upwards from her phone as she rests it on the table with a huff. “she left for seven years! she doesn’t get to come back into my life just because i was in a coma. how would you feel if your mother just suddenly started being nice to you after all the shit she’s put you through!?” she hisses angrily.

  
  


“that is not the same and you know it.” cheryl deadpans, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly as toni scoffs derisively. 

  
  


“isn’t it!? now do what i said and tell her to fuck off, that’s final!” she barks angrily.

  
  


cheryl blinks in shock.

  
  


that...did not just happen.

  
  


“...since fucking when do you talk to me like that? you do  _ not  _ talk to me like that.  _ ever.  _ not a day in your life, antoinette topaz, you better not start now.” cheryl doesn’t say it harshly, but her tone is rather unkind, not because she wants it to be, but because she genuinely can’t believe toni is actually talking to her like this.

  
  


toni has never,  _ ever,  _ demanded that cheryl do something. 

  
  


and clearly, toni notices it too, because cheryl sees the way she flinches, regret shining in her eyes as she inhales sharply and shakes her head.

  
  


“cheryl-”

  
  


“no! i understand something bad has happened to you but that does not give you the right to speak to me like that!” cheryl snaps, watching as toni slowly deflates with that guilt in her eyes growing with each passing second. cheryl takes pity, slowly lets go of her own anger as well before she sighs and reaches over the table to take toni’s hand into her own.

  
  


“i understand you’re mad, baby, but while you were in a coma for three months, lucy was there! by your side, almost every single day! and if it wasn't for her, i would have gone crazy! you don't understand how hard it was to see you like that, not just for me, but for her, too! and she kept me sane! she knows she fucked up, toni, but she’s sorry. and yes it took her until now to come back, but if you give her the time to explain, maybe you’d realize why! and yes, it took you being in a coma to bring her back, but sometimes it takes a tragic situation for someone to realize that they have fucked up and need to make amends before it’s too late.” 

  
  
  


toni scoffs again, eyes moving to the side, and cheryl grips her hand a little tighter to get her to look at her properly. 

  
  


“my point is, t.t….she’s trying to fix it! even after you told her to get out when you woke up, she was still texting me every single day asking me how you were! and she still is! look!”

  
  


cheryl literally shoves her phone into her hands, and toni rolls her eyes, but takes it, and cheryl watches as toni’s hardened facial expression softens as she scrolls through hers and lucy’s texts. 

  
  


“i know you may resent her for just leaving you like she did but you have to understand from her perspective. she did what she thought was best for you! she was only sixteen, toni. and yes, it may have taken her a long time to come back but she’s back now! she’s trying to make up for her mistakes and you won't even give her the opportunity!” cheryl says passionately, watching as toni scrolls through a month’s worth of messages before she finally reaches the most recent one lucy just sent.

  
  


“she’s going to leave, t.t. you can’t let her leave with your relationship in shambles like this. talk to her, please. make amends.” cheryl says softly, watching as the tears build in toni’s eyes as she reads over the last message.

  
  


toni exhales shakily before she looks up at cheryl with one tear leaking from the corner of her left eye.

  
  


“i...cheryl, you don’t understand. when she left, i lost the last person who cared about me. i begged her to stay, over and over and over again, but she kept telling me it was for the best. and those last words she said to me, they’d keep reverberating in my mind every time uncle jacob would yell or scream at me, or kick me out or slap me or tell me i’m disgusting because of my sexuality. because it if really was what was best, why did it hurt so damn much to know she wasn’t there to protect me?” 

  
  


toni’s voice is so filled with pain, more tears falling and her face screwed up in anguish as cheryl bites down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying. toni sniffs and wipes her tears with the sleeve of her shirt before she shakes her head.

  
  


“she hurt me. losing our parents, that hurt, but i was okay because i had her. and when that guy tried to…” she trails off, a shiver clearly running up her spine before she looks up at cheryl with a sad smile.

  
  


“when that guy tried to do to me what nick tried to do to you, i was okay, because i had  _ her.  _ but then she brought us back here, and she left, and uncle jacob would yell and suddenly, i wasn’t okay anymore. because i didn’t have her. do you know how hard it was to try to heal from that? i thought...i thought she didn’t want me anymore.” toni chokes out, her shoulders slumping in her seat and her food resting forgotten on the table as cheryl jumps up from her seat and moves it closer to toni before plopping back down into it and taking both of toni’s hands into her own.

  
  


“oh, t.t...you have to know that’s not why she left...she told me  _ everything.  _ she was  _ scared,  _ toni...she was sixteen and she had no job, no money, and she wanted your life to be better. do you think if she had known that your uncle was going to be that much of an asshole, she would’ve left you with him-.”

  
  


“but she did, cheryl! she  _ did  _ leave me with him! and she didn’t give me a number, or-or a way to contact her if anything ever went wrong! she just promised she’d come back for me and she never did! why should i forgive her for that?!” toni exclaims, more tears falling rapidly as cheryl scoots impossibly closer.

  
  


“toni, i’m not trying to invalidate your feelings, i’m trying to  _ understand  _ them! but i spent three months with lucy-.”

  
  


“and you’ve spent two years with me! what, my feelings don’t matter more than hers now?!” toni says through slightly bared teeth in anger, leaving cheryl staring at her, gobsmacked at her response before her own anger filters through.

  
  


“don’t you dare, toni topaz! your feelings will  _ always  _ come first,  _ always!  _ but...look!” she says, quickly grabbing her phone from toni’s hand and scrolling up to the messages from this afternoon.

  
  


“you were having another nightmare and i asked her for help, look at her response! she didn’t even hesitate, she knew  _ exactly  _ what would calm you down! does that sound like someone who wanted to leave you? does that sound like someone who left you because they didn’t want you anymore?” cheryl demands, watching as toni reads the message with wide eyes filled with shock.

  
  


and to her surprise, toni lets out a soft laugh.

  
  


“i can’t believe she remembers that...my mom used to sing it to us to get us to sleep, and...and when she was gone, lucy started doing it to me...especially when the streets would get too loud and we couldn’t find somewhere quiet to rest for the night.” toni murmurs, more tears welling in those brown eyes of hers. 

  
  


cheryl reaches over and tucks a lock of pink hair behind her ear tenderly with a smile, glad that the yelling and the tension seems to have eased for now.

  
  


she wants this to be a civil conversation. she wants to get through to her, not  _ push _ her, into it...

  
  


“talk to her, toni...i know you’re upset and you’re mad and baby, you have every right to be. but give her a  _ chance.  _ she’s trying, and that has to count for something, right?” cheryl says softly. toni purses her lips, the hesitation still there as she wipes her tears and looks at cheryl skeptically. 

  
  


“there’s still pain there, cheryl. no matter what, there’s still pain there.” she says firmly. cheryl nods quickly in agreement.

  
  


“i know. but maybe if you talk to her about it, it can help you move forward from it. instead of bottling it up inside. she’s here, and she loves you and she misses you. talk to her, t.t.” she gently eggs her on. toni lets out a shaky sigh, and she stares at cheryl with an unreadable expression for a few moments before she’s suddenly leaning across the table and gripping cheryl’s chin between her fingers, planting a long, but deep kiss to her lips that has cheryl simply letting out a shocked noise of surprise as she kisses her back. 

  
  


“when did you get all smart and intelligent and shit?” toni mumbles against her lips, and cheryl chuckles and presses another quick peck to the corner of her mouth.

  
  


“excuse you, i’ve always been smart and intelligent and shit.” she grumbles, causing toni to laugh against her before she’s pulling away and taking cheryl’s phone off the counter. she hesitates, looks up at cheryl, who nods once encouragingly before she’s tapping away at the screen.

  
  


“i’ll ask her to come over tomorrow, if that’s okay?”

  
  


“of course, t.t. whatever you want.”   
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the penultimate chapter! there will be a lil epilogue coming soon but for now we hope you guys enjoy this one! Bree and I have been working our butts off on this fic so leave a comment letting us know what you think!
> 
> twitter: @endofdaysforme/@topazgotjuice

toni goes through about three different pairs of jeans and five shirts before finally settling on a simple red flannel shirt and her usual ripped jeans and combat boots combo. she adjusts the bandana in her hair and exhales shakily as she looks herself over in the mirror. she has no idea why she’s so fucking nervous about her appearance, because lucy was there that day she woke up in the damn hospital looking like a mess, but this is different.

  
  


this is her awake and alive again...this is her with her life put together. she needs to look the part.

  
  


she doesn’t even know why she wants to impress lucy so badly, but she can’t help herself. part of her wants to show her sister that she made it. that she has a good life despite her leaving her in the dust, but another part of her doesn’t want to do it to be petty...another part of her just wants her sister to be proud of her.

  
  


_ god, this is so fucked… _

  
  


lucy had agreed to meet up with her, had apparently been on her way out of riverdale when she got the message, and toni feels terribly guilty, but also a little annoyed.

  
  


annoyed that lucy had been on the verge of giving up and leaving once again. but toni understands, it’s not like she’s given lucy the time of day at all for the last month...it’s just that, trying to recover and come to terms with the fact that she was in a fucking coma for three months was hard enough without the added pressure of trying to make amends with her long lost sister...her brain could only take so much and she’s just still so fucking  _ mad. _

  
  


it took her almost dying for lucy to come back...why? why didn’t she come sooner? why did it take her so long to even come back, and why the fuck has toni not heard a single word from her in seven fucking years?

  
  


she finds her fingers subconsciously moving under the bandana and underneath her hair to touch the now long scar beneath it, one that trails from just above her ear to almost the middle of the back of her head, and she finds herself wincing at the bumps and ridges of it. it’s ugly, but she’s lucky...her hair is thick enough to cover it and hide it from view. 

  
  


they really cut into her brain...three months in a coma, it’s fucking insane to think about...

  
  


“wow…” toni’s pulled out of her thoughts by a voice behind her, and she looks up into the mirror she’s looking into as she flattens a hand over her clothes to get the wrinkles out to see cheryl looking at her from the door with tears in her eyes, much to toni’s surprise.

  
  


“what’s wrong, babe?” toni asks, spinning around quickly with concern as cheryl shakes her head and pushes away from the door to make her way over to her with a smile. 

  
  


“no, nothing, you just...you look like you again.” cheryl croaks out, swallowing thickly and letting out a soft laugh as she looks toni up and down fondly before coming to a stop in front of her.

  
  


toni smiles and closes the gap between them, wrapping her arms around cheryl’s waist and pulling her closer to press a kiss to her neck tenderly. 

  
  


“mmm...nothing to cry about, love.” toni murmurs against her skin, and cheryl surprises her once again by pulling back to cradle her cheek in her hand, a gentle thumb brushing over her cheekbone as her eyes take in every inch of toni’s face in front of her.

  
  


“i think i did all my crying for those three months, t.t. but it’s good to finally cry about something good instead of something utterly terrifying for once.” 

  
  


“well, i gotta say it is good to feel like me again.” toni smiles as she leans into cheryl’s touch.

  
  


“and you are so beautiful.”

  
  


cheryl leans down to close the small distance and presses her lips gently against toni’s. toni hums in content and wraps her arms tighter around cheryl as the redhead wraps her hands around toni’s neck. their lips move against each other’s slowly. it’s been so long since they've had a moment like this.

  
  


“how did we ever go four months without this?” toni mumbles against her lips.

  
  


“mmm i don't know, but you were unconscious for most of it, less torturous.” cheryl hums in response, prompting toni to roll her eyes a little before she deepens the kiss slightly, closing cheryl’s bottom lip between her own. she spreads her fingers against her lower back and she pulls her body closer as she inhales deeply through her nose, breathing her in.

  
  


she’s right. for her, it’s only been like a month, she can only imagine how cheryl is feeling, having gone four months without this. four months without feeling toni...without holding her...without feeling toni hold her back...without kissing her...and she can tell cheryl is thinking that just that by the way she whimpers into the kiss and presses her lips firmer against hers. toni holds her even tighter and pulls her impossibly closer.

  
  


they don't know how long they're kissing for but they eventually pull away and rest their foreheads against each other.

  
  


“i’ve missed you so much.” cheryl murmurs, barely above a whisper.

  
  


“i’ve missed you too.”

  
  


they stay like that for a couple minutes, just enjoying the feeling of finally being able to just do…this, feel each other.

  
  


the sound of a car pulling up outside pulls both their attention, toni’s heart clenching tightly when she hears a car door slam, and cheryl looks at her with concern before she’s leaning in to press a kiss right between toni’s eyes.

  
  


“breathe, my love. no matter what way this goes, at least you tried.” she murmurs against her skin, and toni clutches the fabric of cheryl’s shirt between her fingers tightly and squeezes her eyes shut, trying to swallow down her panic as she nods against her. 

  
  


they make their way downstairs hand in hand, toni’s trembling form being pulled to cheryl’s side as they get closer to the door just as a loud knock echoes out to them from it. 

  
  


toni licks her dry lips and tries not to panic as cheryl squeezes her hand with a reassuring smile and leans in to open the door slowly. 

  
  


toni can’t help the way she inhales sharply the second she sees the back of blonde hair that’s braided in some parts and dreadlocks in others, cuffs and hair rings clacking when her sister spins around in surprise before she’s smiling widely at the two girls in front of her.

  
  


“hey! i was just admiring the front yard, this place is dope, red! very, uh...high class.” lucy says with a chuckle, looking to cheryl with a grin as the redhead beside her squeezes her hand and says something back, but toni’s not really paying any attention.

  
  


she’s too enraptured by the fact that her  _ sister  _ is standing in front of her right now. 

  
  


it’s fucking insane, that even after seven years, lucy still somehow looks the same. her hair is different from the brown it used to be, sure, and her face and body is definitely more matured, but...she’s still lucy. she’s still her sister. 

  
  


toni doesn’t know why it seems like such an impossibility to her. and she can’t stop fucking staring, but to her surprise, lucy is doing the exact same.

  
  


she’s just staring at toni, looking her up and down with these tears in her eyes and a clenched jaw as she purses her lips and nods once at toni with a hint of a smile.

  
  


“hey.” she says simply, suddenly playing with her fingers nervously, something that has cheryl smiling out of the corner of toni’s eye, and she knows why.

  
  


toni does the same when she’s nervous. she knows exactly what cheryl’s thinking. 

  
  


“hey…” toni replies, squeezing cheryl’s hand to gain some strength as lucy smiles at their intertwined hands. 

  
  


“did you maybe wanna go for a drive, or-.”

  
  


“actually, nana rose is staying at the aged care center for bingo weekend, she won’t be back until monday, and i actually have to discuss some things with my business partner in regards to our, well...business. you two should stay here, maybe toni can give you a tour of the place?” 

  
  


toni purses her lips, but nods in agreement as lucy smiles and shrugs.

  
  


“sounds like a plan.”

  
  


“ _ parfait!  _ i’ll see if i can pick us up some dinner when i’m done-.”

  
  


“actually, i can make us something, if you don’t mind me taking over the kitchen?” lucy says with a smile. toni exchanges a glance with cheryl, who blinks in surprise before she grins widely and nods.

  
  


“of course, home cooked meals are always preferred! i’ll text you when i’m on my way back, t.t.” cheryl says, ducking to press a kiss to her cheek before she’s making her way out of the door with her keys in her hand. she gives lucy’s bicep a squeeze as she passes and makes her way to her car that’s parked beside lucy’s in the driveway. 

  
  


toni watches her go, part of her wishing cheryl would stay, but another part of her glad for the alone time with her sister…

  
  


she needs to sort this out properly. no more avoiding, no more running. 

  
  


“uh...come in, we can go into the foyer.” toni croaks out, stepping back and allowing lucy to step inside, which she does, her eyes roaming around the hallway for a moment before she’s looking at toni once more.

  
  


“how are you feeling?” she asks softly. toni smiles as best as she can and nods once.

  
  


“i’m okay. getting there.” 

  
  


“good...good, i’m glad.” lucy says genuinely. toni nods again, that awkward tension rising more and more as she leads lucy into the foyer. lucy sighs loudly behind her, clearly also feeling the awkwardness as she looks around the room before she whistles in appreciation.

  
  


“damn...so cheryl’s rich or something, right? no way she could afford a place like this if she wasn’t.” she says with a laugh as she pokes a finger at one of the statues in the corner of the room. toni gives her a lopsided smile and shrugs.

  
  


“it’s a long and complicated ass story, but yeah, i guess she’s rich. but we’re not here to talk about her.” toni says simply, collapsing down into one of the couches and nodding to the empty spot beside her.

  
  


“no...no, we’re not.” lucy says with a sigh, falling into place beside her with a wry smile as she begins playing with her fingers nervously. it’s quiet for a few moments before toni’s older sister breathes in and looks up at toni anxiously.

  
  


“how’ve you been?” she asks. toni scoffs despite herself. 

  
  


“do you really wanna know?” she deadpans. lucy’s expression drops before she sighs tiredly.

  
  


“toni...fuck, of course i do. i know there’s no love lost and i know you’re still pissed at me, i’m not saying you shouldn’t be. but can you give me a chance to make up for everything i’ve done wrong?” 

  
  


“that’s the thing, lucy! do  _ you  _ even know what you did wrong? do you even know why i’m mad at you, or do you just think you know?” toni asks, eyebrow raised and looking at her sister expectantly, and lucy frowns before she purses her lips and nods slowly.

  
  


“i...i left! i left and i should’ve stayed, i should’ve looked after you-.” she starts, but toni rolls her eyes and lets out a scoff of anger.

  
  


“no! i’m not mad about any of that! i’m mad because you never came back! i’m mad because instead of asking me what i wanted,  _ you _ decided for me!” toni says through slightly bared teeth, trying her absolute best to keep her composure right now, but she can feel it slipping as lucy bows her head.

  
  


“t...you were twelve, you were just a kid-.”

  
  


“so were you!” toni interrupts angrily, hot tears beginning to build in her eyes, fuck, she does  _ not  _ want to cry right now-

  
  


“toni, living on the streets, barely getting by and constantly starving, that was what our lives  _ were _ , i wasn’t gonna let you keep living like that-.”

  
  


“but i would’ve been with  _ you! _ i would’ve been with you and just knowing that i had you, that i had my  _ sister  _ by my side? that would’ve made all of it worthwhile.” her tears fall over, and she quickly wipes them away, not wanting lucy to see, but her sister doesn’t miss a thing, because she reaches out to take toni’s hand before she pauses, clearly hesitating as she looks up at toni.

  
  


“i would much rather you be pissed beyond measure at me now than to have to keep living on the streets, toni. you deserved better than that.” she whispers. toni scoffs again.

  
  


“deserved better? do you have any idea who you even left me with?” toni starts to tear up even more just at the thought of having to share this with lucy, who clenches her jaw, sudden anger taking over her eyes.

  
  


“cheryl told me uncle jacob didn’t make life easy for you-.”

  
  


“cheryl only knows what i told her, which truthfully isn’t much! you left me with an abuser! it was hell, lucy. pure hell! he would tell me constantly how i was a burden to him. he would get piss drunk. he would beat me and tell me i’m disgusting just because i liked girls. and you know the most ironic thing? sometimes he would lock me out just because he felt like it. so while you were trying to keep me off the streets, i was still homeless a majority of the time. why do you think i joined the serpents? they kept me housed and fed me when i wasn’t welcome in my own home!” toni cries out, not even bothering to wipe away the cavalcade of tears falling down her face now as lucy takes in this information with nothing but shock.

  
  


it’s quiet for a long time, the both of them just trying to soak in toni’s outburst before, to toni’s surprise, lucy begins sobbing. 

  
  


her entire body begins trembling, her bottom lip quivering as tears well in her eyes, and toni looks away, unable to even watch. 

  
  


it isn’t until she feels warm fingers wrap around her bicep, and it hits her that this is the first time she’s having proper contact with her sister without the grogginess of coming out of a coma or the coma itself to muddle her memory of it, that toni finds herself turning to face her.

  
  


“i’m...i d-don’t-.” lucy tries to get out, but toni doesn’t let her.

  
  


she finds herself biting back a whine before she grips the wrist of the hand on her bicep and pulls her forward, and the second she wraps her arms around lucy’s neck, her sister hooks her arms under toni’s and grips the back of her neck, holding her close and crying into her hair while toni simply buries her face into lucy’s shoulder.

  
  


they’re holding each other so tightly, toni feels like she can’t breathe properly, but right now, she doesn’t care. 

  
  


cheryl’s right...no matter how fucking mad she is, no matter how much it hurts...lucy’s her fucking sister. and maybe it’s been seven years, but she’s here, and to touch her, to hold her again after this long…

  
  


“i’m s-sorry, toni, i’m so, s-so sorry-.” 

  
  


“shh, it’s okay, luce…” toni whispers, this sense of deja vu washing over her at the scent of something so purely her sister mixed with vanilla shampoo and clove cigarettes.

  
  


“i should’ve come b-back sooner, i just...i didn’t know if you’d w-want me here anymore! the longer i stayed away the more i doubted you’d even ever  _ want  _ so see me again. how could i just show up after so long? i thought you’d h-hate me!” lucy’s voice is muffled against her hair, but toni still shakes her head and pulls away slowly to look her sister in the eyes, the both of them tear stricken and slumped over in defeat at the pain they feel.

  
  


“lucy, you’re my sister! of course i wanted you to come back, i’ve...fuck, i’ve missed you so much-.”

  
  


lucy doesn’t even let her finish her sentence, just pulls her back in for a hug that neither of them refuse to let go of. they’re holding each other for so long, the fucking sun is beginning to set as lucy finally pulls away from toni and grips her face between her hands, gently brushing away her tears with the pads of her thumbs and a sad smile on her face. 

  
  


“i know i’ve been gone, a-and i know i have a lot to make up for...but i love you, little sis. and i’m asking you, please give me a second chance. please...can we just...start over?” lucy whispers. toni smiles, and finds herself nodding.

  
  


“i think a clean slate is exactly what we need right now.” toni lifts her hand to grip lucy’s, still holding her cheek. 

  
  


and the happiness that shines in lucy’s eyes makes everything all worth it. she knows they’ve got a long way to go, but at least they’re taking the first steps to get there.

  
  


lucy ends up cooking for them. she raids their fridge and whips up some fried chicken, green beans, and mac and cheese.

  
  


“just like mom used to make.” toni smiles sadly as lucy sets a plate in front of toni with a sad smile of her own.

  
  


they talk. for two hours straight, they talk. about almost everything since the day lucy dropped her off at their uncle’s doorstep. the details of her stay with uncle jacob is a very emotional topic, and lucy ends up apologizing again with tears in her eyes.

  
  


“you didn’t know,” toni says, placing a hand of reassurance on lucy’s forearm. 

  
  


“still, i-i should’ve checked in. i should’ve done  _ something.” _

  
  


while toni agrees with her, she still reassures her that it’s okay. they were starting over. 

  
  


the conversation gets lighter when toni talks about her time with the serpents. lucy listens, hears how passionately toni speaks about them as she tells her sister how they saved her life and taught her how to protect herself, and how they are her family. lucy seems to ease to the idea and even finds herself smiling as toni speaks, but then...

  
  


“i just don’t get it, t...the serpents got mom and dad killed, why would you join them?” she asks with a sigh.

  
  


and toni shakes her head as she looks to her sister sadly.

  
  


“luce...mom and dad got mom and dad killed. f.p told me what happened, they were running drugs over the greendale border and they got in some hot water with the ghoulies. dad...he ended up stabbing one of the members, and he died.” toni says softly. lucy’s eyes widen, tears building as toni lets out a deep sigh and bows her head. 

  
  


“when dad heard, instead of going to f.p for help and for protection, he got me and you and mom and he took us to new york. he screwed up, lucy, but it’s not his fault...it’s no one’s fault. and the serpents welcomed me with open arms. grandad said they would, and uncle jacob was...uncle jacob. so i joined, and they took care of me. i did what i had to do to survive. just like mom and dad. but where they made a mistake, i know i didn’t.” toni says her words slowly, carefully, and lucy simply swallows thickly and clenches her jaw before she’s nodding slowly, clearly taking toni’s words to heart.

  
  


“grandad...he still around?” lucy asks roughly. toni simply shrugs as she rolls her food around with her fork.

  
  


“you know him...only shows up when he needs to.” she says truthfully. her grandfather was never really around when she was a child, and disappeared even further when she came back and began living with her uncle. it’s just how he’s always been.

  
  


“and uncle jacob?” lucy asks. again, toni shrugs.

  
  


“who knows...he disappeared after i moved in with cheryl. probably dead.” she deadpans. lucy clenches her jaw before she nods slowly.

  
  


“hopefully dead.” 

  
  


toni tells her basically everything about her life, about her love of photography, how she actually loves school (“yeah, cheryl told me you’ve got a scholarship to college...good job, t.” lucy says with a proud smile that has toni’s heart fluttering), that she rides a motorcycle, a fact that makes lucy’s jaw drop. toni even takes her out to the garage to show her and lucy’s eyes widen as she admires her baby.

  
  


“wow, this is so badass.” she gasps as she runs her fingers over the leather of the seat.

  
  


lucy’s favorite part, however, is when toni tells her about how her relationship with cheryl blossomed. she had already heard the story from cheryl, but hearing toni speak about it with just as much passion, makes her heart swell even more.

  
  


“looks like you really found your person.” lucy tells her softly, and the look in toni’s eyes is something only written in the most inspiring romance novels. 

  
  


“she’s the love of my life...i have no doubts about it. but enough about me though, tell me about you and what you’ve been up to the past seven years!”

  
  


toni learns a lot about her sister. she learns that lucy is a full time singer, and that’s actually what helped her get off the streets. 

  
  


“yeah, i started busking, it was my only source of income. i was trying so damn hard to get enough money to come back here and give you a life you deserve, but man...i was lucky if i made enough to buy a happy meal from mcdonalds. but one day, i was singing outside of this bar, and the owner heard me and i was afraid he was going to shoo me away but he ended up giving me a job, and i’ve been working there ever since.”

  
  


“do you love it? performing i mean?” toni asks from where they’re seated outside, lucy smoking a cigarette as she nods with a fond smile.

  
  


“oh yeah. singing is my passion, just like photography is for you. if i could sing for the rest of my life, i would die happy.” 

  
  


toni nods with an impressed frown, storing that information in the front of her brain, suddenly having an idea.

  
  


“speaking of photography...wanna see some of the photos i’ve got?” she asks a little nervously, playing with her fingers and watching as lucy smiles before she takes a drag of her cigarette with a firm nod.

  
  


“of course i do, where’ve you got ‘em?” toni grins, rushes back inside and upstairs to her room with cheryl to grab her camera and comes back down, excitedly handing her camera over to lucy and watching as she turns it on and begins flicking through toni’s photos with her eyes growing wider and wider.

  
  


“holy shit, t...these are amazing!” she breathes, looking up at her sister, and toni can’t help but beam widely back at her.

  
  


toni also learns that lucy has a girlfriend, something that shocks her into silence for a long time before she smiles with soft eyes when lucy shows her a picture of the two of them on her phone once it gets too chilly to stay outside.

  
  


“you two look so cute.” toni awes, staring at the photo of her sister grinning widely with her face buried in the crook of the neck of a beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who’s pulling a face at the camera. 

  
  


“her name is claire, and she’s so amazing. our love story isn’t as epic as yours and cheryl’s, her friends stopped at the bar i was singing at one night during a bachelorette party and she was, i quote, ‘entranced by my voice’, but she’s my baby. i’m not sure if cheryl told you but while you were in the coma, she and i...we got into a small argument.”

  
  


“wait, you and cheryl?” toni says in surprise, and lucy nods with a solemn sigh.

  
  


“yeah...the serpents had just given you your jacket back and i just...wasn’t okay with it. cheryl said maybe if i had been around you never would’ve joined and she was right, but it struck a cord. i ended up leaving for like a week, i was just so mad...but my girlfriend, man…she basically told me to get my head out of my ass and get back here and not to leave until you were back with us again.” lucy says, that smile slowly creeping back onto her face as toni gives her a lopsided smile of her own.

  
  


“she sounds like a keeper.”

  
  


“that's the exact same thing your girlfriend said when i told her.” lucy laughs.

  
  


“well, she is very beautiful. she kinda looks like viper from ‘ _ viper and the purple hope.’”  _ toni guffaws as she hands lucy back her phone, and lucy’s eyes widen before she’s punching toni straight in the arm.

  
  


“ow!”

  
  


“oh my God, you remember those comics!?” she exclaims in surprise as toni rubs her arm with a wince and a roll of her eyes.

  
  


“how could i forget?” lucy laughs loudly before she’s pointing at toni excitedly. 

  
  


“do you still have the copy we stole from that asshole who tried to say you weren't a real ‘ _ purple hope’  _ fan?”

  
  


“do i?” toni suddenly stands from the couch and disappears out of the living room and walks into the garage. she walks over to the wall where all of her boxes sat from when she moved in a couple years ago and searches for a specific box that she hasn’t touched in  _ years.  _ she smiles when she finds the box labeled  _ comics,  _ and carries it back into the house and into the living room, setting it on the coffee table with a grunt. she takes the top off the box, and lucy gasps when she sees the large collection of comic books inside.

  
  


“holy shit! i can't believe you kept all of these! it looks like you even added more to the collection.” she laughs, shifting forward in her seat and reaching for the box to look through it.

  
  


“i have. i collected a bunch for a couple years after you left, until i got busy with the serpents. but uhh…” toni furrows her brows as she flips through the comics, humming when she finds the one she’s looking for. “i believe  _ this _ is the one you were talking about.” 

  
  


toni hands the comic book to lucy, who laughs with a shake of her head as she flips through the book with a fond look in her eyes.

  
  


“wow...yeah, i remember that day like it was yesterday. punk ass guy...he’s lucky i didn’t kick his ass.” lucy skims through the comic before setting it on the table and pulling the box closer to her. “what else you got in here?”

  
  


“i have a few marvel and dc comics in here too, but it’s mostly  _ purple hope  _ comics.” toni says with a shrug, collapsing into the seat beside lucy.

  
  


lucy digs through the box, reading every title she passes, but she pauses at a certain book and removes it from the box, staring at it fondly as she picks it up.

  
  


“wow.” she murmurs as she starts to flip through the book.

  
  


“what?” toni asks with confusion, and lucy smiles and looks at her, shaking the book in her hand as she does.

  
  


“this one...i remember you reading this one to me when i was still healing from that asshole beating me up after he tried to…” lucy chokes on her words, tears welling in her eyes, and toni is staring at her with nothing but gratitude flooding her entire body.

  
  


she was young, yes, and trauma has pushed that memory far into the back of her mind, but she remembers it...she remembers the fear that had run through her when that man had touched her, and she remembers watching lucy kick him until he was down before kicking him some more, even with a busted face and a black eye and a few broken ribs...she remembers helping lucy to a secluded alleyway where they crashed for a night, where she held a crying and broken lucy and tried to read her comics to keep her distracted as they held hands and shivered from the cold night and the events of it...

  
  


_ wow, she really has done a lot for me. _

  
  


toni doesn’t say a word. she just leans over and wraps her arms around lucy’s neck, and her sister tenses in surprise before she’s chuckling and rubbing toni’s back soothingly. 

  
  


it’s in that moment that toni hears the front door open, and she hears the sound of heels clacking before-

  
  


“well...i guess today was a success then!” 

  
  


toni pulls away from lucy with a roll of her eyes as her sister laughs loudly, and they both turn to the entrance of the foyer to see cheryl watching them with a wide smile. 

  
  


“it was. we’re starting over...clean slate!” toni says happily, grinning at her sister as cheryl claps her hands excitedly.

  
  


“oh, that’s  _ fabulous  _ news! i’m glad you two figured things out.” cheryl says proudly, making her way towards them as toni stands and accepts the kiss to her cheek that cheryl gives her. 

  
  


“yeah, so am i.” lucy says with a warm smile up at the both of them before she too is standing with a sigh.

  
  


“i should probably get going, it’s late and the receptionist at the hotel is probably gonna kill me for coming back-.”

  
  


“don’t be silly, we have plenty of spare rooms here in thistlehouse!” cheryl says quickly, looking to toni for confirmation, who immediately tenses.

  
  


and lucy immediately picks up on it. 

  
  


“oh, uh...no, it’s okay, cheryl-.” lucy starts, but toni shakes her head and reaches out to take her sister’s hand.

  
  


“no! stay, please. cheryl’s right, we have a lot of spare rooms and it’s late, you should stay.” toni says quickly, all hesitation erased the second she saw the look of hurt in her sister’s eyes.

  
  


they were trying to start over. denying her sister refuge doesn’t seem like a good place to start.

  
  


“are you sure, t?” lucy asks nervously, and toni simply smiles and squeezes her hand before she nods.

  
  


“i’m positive. please...stay.” she says softly. lucy hesitates...and grins.

  
  


“alright. guess we’re having a sleepover!” 

  
  


\--

  
  


“thank you baby.” toni says later that night as the two of them cuddle in bed, toni’s head resting on her chest as cheryl scratches gently at her scalp. it’s almost one in the morning, the three of them unable to stop talking well into the night as they all caught up on each other’s lives before lucy finally decided it was time to retire for the night. 

  
  


“for what?”

  
  


“for talking some sense into me. you were right. talking it out really helped me get past the anger and helped me realize that i really just missed her.”

  
  


“of course, honey. that’s what i’m here for,” cheryl mumbles as she kisses the top of toni’s head.

  
  


toni presses her lips to cheryl's chest and another one to the base of cheryl’s neck before she raises up on her elbow to look down into those soft brown eyes. she curls a piece of cheryl's hair behind her ear.

  
  


“you truly are my better half, cheryl blossom. i love you more than words can express.” 

  
  


“and i you, my love.” 

  
  


the two stare at each other for a few moments, eyes soft, and doughy, full of love and pure adoration. toni’s eyes drop to cheryl's lips before she leans down slowly. she brushes her lips against cheryl’s before puckering her lips in a soft kiss. 

  
  


they pull away just a hair and part their lips, inhaling softly before toni closes her lips over cheryl’s bottom lip. they breath each other in as toni rakes her fingers through cheryl’s hair. 

  
  


their lips press and pull against each other gently, the kiss slow and soft. as toni continues to run her fingers through silky red locks, cheryl wraps a hand around the back of toni’s neck while her other hand slides down toni’s side, over her backside to grip the back of her thigh. she pulls her leg up to bend at the knee, across her waist, and she drags her hand up and down the smooth skin.

  
  


toni deepens the kiss with a hum, tilting her head to the side for more intimacy. cheryl releases a hum of her own as toni sticks her tongue out, just barely grazing the tip of cheryl’s tongue before sliding it into her mouth. cheryl squeezes toni’s thigh and her other hand moves up to tangle into her hair.

  
  


toni groans lowly as she moves to lay directly on top of cheryl, intertwining their legs. she pulls away from cheryl’s lips with a smack and rests her forehead against hers.

  
  


“i’ve missed you so much,” toni groans and she captures cheryl’s lips again before she has a chance to reply. 

  
  


she kisses cheryl with a passion. a passion they haven’t felt since their almost closet hook up the day of the accident. they kiss deeply, toni’s hands roaming over cheryl’s body, feeling every curve, every muscle twitch, and the temptation becomes too much to resist.

  
  


toni reaches for the tie of cheryl’s pyjama pants, and the second she makes contact, cheryl’s eyes fly open in surprise.

  
  


“toni...baby...wait...” cheryl gets out between kisses, chuckling breathlessly.

  
  


“no...no wait.” toni pouts before pressing another kiss to her lips.

  
  


“baby...you’re still healing...and your sister is right down the hall.”

  
  


“so we’ll be gentle and quiet.” toni mumbles against her neck, and cheryl laughs out loud.

  
  


“tt, when have we ever done either?” cheryl raises an eyebrow at her, and toni chuckles as she raises her head to look at her.

  
  


“okay fair point.” toni laughs, leaning down to press a sweet kiss to the top of cheryl’s nose. “but i know we can be quiet, it’s not like we haven't done it before. plus it’s been so long and i really really want you, and i know you want me too, i can see it in your eyes.” 

  
  


toni teasingly rolls her hips against cheryl’s and giggles when she hears her breath hitch.

  
  


“see?” toni taunts teasingly with a smirk and she leans down to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. 

  
  


“please baby, i want you so badly.” toni pleads softly with a poked out lip and soft eyes, and cheryl rolls her own.

  
  


“you know i can’t resist that face.” 

  
  


toni smiles victoriously and leans down to capture cheryl’s lips once again. cheryl rolls toni over onto her back and pulls away.

  
  


“fine. but we’re going slow and you have to be quiet.”

  
  


“i promise, baby. now please, just kiss me.”

  
  


cheryl licks her lips as her eyes drop down to toni’s. she leans down slowly, almost teasingly slow, and takes toni’s bottom lip between hers in a soft kiss. she pulls away slowly and pauses for just a moment before tilting her head and connecting their lips again. 

  
  


cheryl deepens the kiss, snaking her tongue out to roll around toni’s, but the kiss isn’t rushed or heated, it’s slow, soft, passionate, the both of them taking their time with it.

  
  


it’s been far too long since they’ve had this.

  
  


cheryl digs her teeth into toni’s bottom and lips and tugs it back gently before releasing it, reveling in the way toni grunts quietly at the action. she presses an open mouthed kiss to her chin and trails tender kisses down the base of her jaw, to her neck.

  
  


she presses her tongue to her pulse point before closing over the area with her lips, sucking on her warm skin, causing toni to gasp and lean her head into her. cheryl slides her hand up toni’s side and cups her chin, turning her head to give herself more access. 

  
  


toni’s lips part as she lets out a breathy hum, her hands moving up and down cheryl’s back. she slips her hands under cheryl’s silk pajama top and splays her fingers across the plane of her back, as she relaxes her muscles, enjoying the sensations of cheryl’s mouth on her.

  
  


cheryl is so gentle, pressing her lips tenderly up and down the column in her neck. she sucks softly, teeth just barely grazing her skin. cheryl drags her hand back down toni’s body, over the round of her breast, down her side. she slides her hand under toni’s pajama top and rests her palm on the warm, soft skin of her stomach, her thumb caressing her skin subtly. 

  
  


cheryl sticks her tongue out and slowly runs it up the length of her neck until she reaches her ear. she sucks her earlobe between her lips, causing toni to release a quiet moan as she digs her fingers into her back. 

  
  


“cheryl,” toni whispers, with a gasp as cheryl nibbles on the shell of her ear. 

  
  


cheryl raises her head up and places the softest of kisses to toni’s lips before she sits up on her knees. toni runs her hands up and down cheryl’s thighs as she looks up at her with the softest eyes, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

  
  


cheryl looks down at her with eyes full of pure adoration, never breaking their eye contact as she reaches for the buttons of toni’s top. one by one she slowly undoes her buttons, exposing more and more of her skin, until they’re all undone, and she pushes her pajama shirt open, revealing her exposed chest. 

  
  


cheryl rubs the tips of her fingers up toni’s stomach, smirking in the way her stomach tenses under her touch. she moves them over to her sides and rubs her thumbs against the sides of her breasts. she leans down and presses a gentle, lingering kiss to the middle of her chest, pulling away slowly.

  
  


cheryl sits back up and rubs her hands across her shoulders, under her top to push it down her shoulders. toni sits up to allow cheryl to peel the shirt from her body, and she drops it to the floor before gently pushing her to lay back down by her chest.

  
  


cheryl lifts toni’s right arm and presses a kiss to her palm. she trails soft but tender kisses, over her wrist, down her forearm, up to her shoulder, across her chest to her other shoulder, down her arm until she reaches the palm of her left hand. then she starts all over, kissing up her arm, and over her shoulder until she reaches her chest. she kisses back up her neck and across her jaw, landing on her lips. they kiss deeply, cheryl sucks on her bottom lip before sliding her tongue against the side of toni’s.

  
  


toni slides her hands up cheryl’s thighs, over her rear, and up her back, pulling her shirt up with her.

  
  


cheryl pulls away from toni’s lips with a smack and sits up on her knees again. she crosses her arms and grabs the hem of her top and pulls it over her head, discarding it to the floor with toni’s shirt.

  
  


toni looks up at her bare chest in awe, as if it’s the first time she’s ever seen her. she slides her hands up cheryl’s stomach and cups her breasts in both hands, squeezing gently. 

  
  


cheryl inhales deeply and she covers toni’s hands with her own to encourage her. toni squeezes her breasts again and again. she rubs over her nipples with her thumbs and revels in the way cheryl’s breath hitches and her eyes flutter close.

  
  


cheryl leans back down to capture toni’s lips again, deeper but sensually. she trails her lips back down her neck, to her chest. she kisses over the round of her right breast and ghosts her lips over her nipple. she circles slowly, but not teasingly, with her tongue before wrapping her lips around it. she sucks on her softly, digging her teeth as gently as possible, but still has toni’s breathing increasing, and light hums falling from her lips.

  
  


cheryl switches to the other one, before moving on. she takes her time with her, pressing gentle kisses all over her body, not leaving an inch untouched, traveling lower and lower until she reaches the waistband of her pajama pants. she trails a line of kisses along the waistband before sitting up again. she curls her fingers into the elastic and slowly peels them off her legs, adding them to the pile on the floor.

  
  


she lifts her right leg up and presses her lips to the side of her foot. much like she did with her arms, she trails wet kisses up her right leg, pausing to suck on the skin of her inner thigh, bypassing her center, and kissing down her right leg, and starts all over again, working her way back up her leg until she gets to the inner thigh of her right leg, and takes the time to suck on the heated skin. 

  
  


by this point toni’s breathing heavy in anticipation and the smallest of whimpers are falling from her lips. cheryl looks up at her and makes eye contact with her as she presses another kiss to her inner thigh.

  
  


“you ready?” cheryl asks softly.

  
  


“yes.” toni answers barely above a whisper with a desperate nod.

  
  


cheryl curls her fingers into her panties and drags them down her legs to join the ever growing pile, and settles back on her stomach, face to face with her awaiting core. cheryl sticks her tongue out and with the tip she slowly runs it up from her entrance over her clit, biting back a moan at the taste she hasn’t been able to taste in four months, and at the action toni yelps, as her hips buck up.

  
  


cheryl licks her lips as she picks her head up.

  
  


“relax, baby.” she coos as she rubs her thigh. toni nods and relaxes back into the mattress.

  
  


cheryl curls her hands under toni’s thighs and lifts them over her shoulders. she rests her hands on her hips and caresses her skin with her thumbs as her tongue makes contact again. slowly, so slowly, she drags her tongue up and down through her, being as gentle with her as possible, especially after toni’s reaction just a minute ago.

  
  


she circles her clit before wrapping her lips around her bundle of nerves and sucking gently. she focuses solely on stimulating her clit but every now and then she would drag her tongue down through her folds, and dip into her entrance.

  
  


toni’s heavy breaths turn into whimpers, as her back arches off the bed and she pulls desperately at the bed sheets. she bites her lip to keep from moaning out loud.

  
  


cheryl blindly reaches for her hands, and interlaces their fingers, as she slowly works her up. she knows toni is getting close by the way her quiet moans become more frequent and desperate, and the way she’s pulling her hands and digging her nails into the back of them.

  
  


“cheryl- i-” toni cries out and cheryl just squeezes her hands in response.

  
  


toni lets go of one of cheryl’s hands and covers her mouth as cheryl works her smoothly over the edge. her back snaps off the bed and she moans loudly into her hand, as her hips buck into cheryl’s mouth.

  
  


cheryl continues sucking on her until she feels toni’s body relax into the bed. she pulls away and trails kisses back up her body. she presses a gentle kiss to her lips and pulls away slowly. and when she looks down at toni she’s surprised to see tears in her eyes.

  
  


“you okay, baby?” she asks softly and she rakes her fingers through her hair.

  
  


“i’ve just missed you so much, cher.” toni manages to croak out through her tears. cheryl smiles and continues running her fingers through toni’s hair before she leans down to kiss the corner of her mouth.

  
  


“those three months without you were the worst of my life.” she whispers against her skin. toni shivers and immediately wraps her arms around cheryl, pulling her in close and holding her tightly. 

  
  


“i’m sorry, baby. i’m so sorry-.”

  
  


“shhh…not your fault. i’m just glad you came back to me.” cheryl murmurs, kissing her way across the apple of toni’s cheekbone tenderly. toni giggles at the feeling, fingers skating across cheryl’s bare skin before she’s flipping them over quickly and causing cheryl to squeak with surprise.

  
  


toni claps a hand over cheryl’s mouth with a grin and kisses her between the eyes.

  
  


“i will never, ever leave you again, cheryl blossom. not if i can help it.” she says determinedly, removing her hand slowly and watching as cheryl looks up at her with nothing but awe.

  
  


“you promise?” she whispers. toni simply nods and seals it with a kiss.

  
  


“i promise.” cheryl sighs against her, and toni pulls back to simply stare at her for a few moments, taking in each inch of skin before she makes the quick decision to lean down and kiss her once more.

  
  


cheryl worshipped every inch of her. she wants to return the favor. 

  
  


she kisses over her cheekbone, down to the spot beneath her right ear, lips soft, but insistent. cheryl leans into her touch, nails scratching lightly at her back, and toni smiles against her skin at the way she whimpers when toni’s lips move down to her pulse, teeth nipping ever so gently at it.

  
  


“you really went three months without someone touching you like this?” toni whispers against her skin. cheryl sighs breathily and simply nods against her, lips pursed as toni’s hands move up and down her sides gently. 

  
  


“that’s a long time, cher…” toni says with a hint of a smile, watching carefully as cheryl’s eyes flutter when she begins fiddling with the hem of her pyjama pants. 

  
  


“it is...b-but you’re the only one i w-want to touch me like this.” cheryl manages to get out, a soft gasp escaping her when toni’s hand dips beneath the elastic waistband of her pants and underwear. 

toni’s expression softens, her heart racing as she hums under her breath and kisses cheryl’s throat tenderly once more. 

  
  


“i’m sorry i kept you waiting. can you let me make it up to you?” toni asks with a slight pout forming, a pout that has cheryl raising an eyebrow at her before her mouth drops open the second toni’s fingers dip even lower. 

  
  


“uhm y-yeah! y-yeah, whatever you want-ah!” cheryl immediately claps a hand over her mouth when toni begins drawing slowly circles over her clit, and toni herself has to duck her face into cheryl’s neck to stop herself from laughing at how visceral her reaction is.

  
  


it isn’t funny, she feels terrible that cheryl’s gone so long without an ounce of relief, but at the same time, toni’s barely touched her and she’s falling apart already. she’s wound up and toni can’t help herself. 

  
  


“worked up are we?” toni teases, as she bites down on her earlobe with a giggle.

  
  


“i just made you come for the first time in three months, of course i'm worked up!” cheryl snaps a little, a whine escaping when toni presses down a little harder. 

  
  


“shhh...lucy’s just down the hall. you need to stay quiet.” toni sing songs, grinning when cheryl glares at her before she’s clapping a hand over her mouth again to stop the loud whimper that escapes when toni finally moves her fingers lower and circles her entrance with a single digit. 

  
  


the lack of space to move eventually has toni moving away from cheryl’s neck down her chest, eyes watching each breath she takes with a grin, but she doesn’t give cheryl what she wants, teases her a little by pressing a kiss right between her breasts before trailing them down her stomach. she loops her fingers into the elastic and begins tugging her pants down, cheryl eagerly lifting her hips to help her do so. 

  
  


toni practically flings the fabric behind her the second it’s past cheryl’s feet and off her body. she trails her hands up cheryl’s bare legs, smoothing the skin and smiling as goosebumps immediately rise on her body. she stares at toni breathlessly, pupils blown with lust, and toni repeats the process with her underwear, slowly peels it down and off her body while pressing kisses to her inner thighs as she does. 

  
  


cheryl’s whole body is trembling with anticipation, and toni herself feels the excitement rushing through her. it’s been so long since they’ve done this…

  
  


toni eventually moves back up cheryl’s body until they’re pressed together skin to skin, the both of them biting back moans at the familiar and so longed for feeling. cheryl bends her knees and props her feet up, letting toni rest between them as she kisses her passionately. toni lifts herself up, resting her hands on either side of cheryl’s head and dipping her head down to kiss her neck as cheryl fists her hands into toni’s hair. 

  
  


toni has no idea how long they’re just relishing in the feeling of being pressed against each other again, their kisses slow, but filled with love. 

  
  


“toni, please…” cheryl eventually gets out between kisses, and at the tone of her voice and how pleadingly she says it, toni decides not to let her love wait a second longer. 

  
  


she keeps herself up with her left hand and trails her right down cheryl’s body slowly, fingers moving through her center before she’s pushing two fingers into cheryl roughly. the redhead’s back arches off the bed, a soft moan escaping her that toni silences with a kiss as she pulls out and pushes back in just the same. 

  
  


cheryl wraps her legs around toni and crosses her ankles to lock her in and keep her close. she digs her nails into toni’s back as she whimpers into her mouth. 

  
  


“fuck!” toni finds herself sinking her teeth into cheryl’s shoulder to stop herself from crying out at the pain of cheryl’s nails digging sharply into her spine, just focuses on pleasuring the woman beneath her as cheryl cups the back of her neck and pulls her down for a rough kiss. 

  
  


cheryl rocks her hips to meet toni’s thrusts, creating an intoxicating rhythm. she moves her hands up to tangle her fingers in pink locks, tugging not so gently, causing toni to grunt into her mouth. their kisses become sloppy, tongues rolling around as they breathe heavily into each other.

  
  


toni’s hand begins to cramp, three months of not using any muscles clearly catching up to her once again despite the physical therapy sessions, but she grits her teeth and pushes through it the higher in pitch cheryl gets with each thrust. she uses her hips to push deeper, watching in awe as cheryl throws her head back with a loud moan that has toni biting back a grin.

  
  


“cheryl-.” she barely gets out before the redhead grabs her face and kisses her in desperation to silence herself. 

  
  


however, kissing becomes more difficult the closer cheryl gets to her release, as breathing becomes necessary, especially when toni presses into her spot. again, cheryl throws her head back with a moan, louder than the last.

  
  


“cheryl.” toni warns again, as she tries to silence her with another kiss, but it’s no use as cheryl’s mouth hangs open. with her free hand, toni covers cheryl’s mouth and if anything that makes cheryl moan louder.

  
  


toni files away  _ that  _ piece of information for another time, grins as she presses her hand harder against cheryl’s mouth just to watch her squirm for a second before she removes it altogether and kisses her, clutching cheryl’s bottom lip between her teeth and tugging on it slightly. 

  
  


“you gonna come for me?” toni murmurs against her lips, shifting her hand around so her thumb is rubbing against cheryl’s clit, and the redhead whines and nods quickly, gripping toni’s shoulders between her fingers with a shaky breath.

  
  


“do it baby. let go for me.” toni growls.

  
  


cheryl raises her head and sinks her teeth into the base of toni’s neck to muffle her sounds as she falls over the edge. her hips stutter then stiffen as her orgasm crashes into her, sending shockwaves through her body. she squeezes toni’s waist with her thighs as she grips toni’s hair again, pulling her up to kiss her again with bruising pressure.

  
  


it takes a solid minute for cheryl to finally relax, her muscles unclenching and a soft whimper escaping her as she kisses toni almost lazily with pleasure. cheryl’s legs slowly unwrap from around toni’s waist before they flop onto the bed uselessly, and toni giggles against the corner of her mouth before she kisses her racing pulse point affectionately. 

  
  


“you okay?” she asks softly, pulling out of her gently and kissing her cheek apologetically when cheryl winces at the pressure before she exhales shakily with a nod.

  
  


“much needed...much needed, wow.” cheryl manages to get out before she’s laughing breathlessly. toni caresses her sides before collapsing beside her and resting on the crook of her elbow, head falling into the palm of her hand. she cocks an eyebrow as cheryl slowly catches her breath, unable to stop herself from feeling smug.

  
  


“you’re welcome.” toni says with a smirk and cheryl gives her a look before rolling her eyes with a chuckle.

  
  


“i actually missed your cocky, smug ass.” cheryl breathes and toni giggles as she leans down to press a kiss to her shoulder. “are  _ you _ okay?”

  
  


“my arm is cramping up, but other than i'm good. better than i have been this past month.” toni scoots closer to rest her head on cheryl’s shoulder and she draws circles on her chest with her finger. 

  
  


“mmm...sleepy.” cheryl yawns, wrapping her arms around toni and snuggling into her as the pink haired girl chuckles against her and feels her own lids beginning to droop with fatigue.

  
  


“goodnight, cher.” she mumbles, and she falls asleep with a smile on her face as full lips press a kiss to her hairline.

  
  


“goodnight,  _ mon petit amour. _ ” 

  
  


\--

  
  


cheryl is the first to wake up the next morning. she smiles at the feeling of a naked toni laying on top of her. she pushes toni’s hair out of her face and presses her lips to her hairline. she slowly and as gently as possible, adjusts them so they’re laying on their sides. and for the next few minutes, cheryl just stares at toni.

  
  


you would think after having to watch her do nothing but sleep for three straight months she would rather do anything else, but this is different. this time she looks peaceful and not in pain. she can stare at her beautiful face, free of needles and tubes and bandages. 

  
  


however, she cant resist her lips, the way they poke out in a pout while she sleeps. she can’t resist. she leans forward and kisses her, moving her lips against her, and digging her teeth into her bottom lip until she hears her groan. she pulls back and watches as her eyebrows twitch forward before her eyes flutter open, smiling the second she sees those gorgeous brown eyes.

  
  


“morning baby.” cheryl says airly.

  
  


“mmm...morning.” toni rasps with a sleepy smile, and cheryl leans forward again to capture her lips in a soft kiss.

  
  


“what time is it?” toni asks, and cheryl rolls over onto her back and reaches for her phone as taps the screen to bring it to life.

  
  


“it’s about nine thirty.” cheryl answers as she snuggles back down beside toni.

  
  


“you couldn’t let me sleep in until ten? you wore me out last night.” toni groans as she raises her hand and drops it down on cheryl’s cheek in a soft slap, leaving it to rest there.

  
  


“sorry. your lips are just so damn kissable, i couldn’t resist.” 

  
  


toni giggles, and cheryl leans in once more, pressing her lips to toni’s tenderly. they kiss lazily for the next few minutes until they hear a ruckus from downstairs and the scent of bacon hitting her nose.

  
  


“i think lucy might be destroying our kitchen.” toni mumbles against cheryl’s lips and cheryl chuckles in response.

  
  


“i guess we better get up.”

  
  


“no...five more minutes.” toni whines as she tightens her hold around cheryl’s waist and presses a kiss to her neck.

  
  


“uh uh. if we don't get up now we never will, and i’m pretty sure your sister is making breakfast for us. come on, we can continue this later.” cheryl says, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips and she pats her backside before climbing out of the bed. toni reaches out and places a smack to cheryl’s bare backside before she can get too far away.

  
  


“okay fine, i’m getting up. you better be lucky i love your fine ass.”

  
  


“no,  _ you’re _ the one who’s lucky enough to have this ass.” cheryl says as she wiggles her backside teasingly. 

  
  


“you’re right about that.” toni says as she stands from the bed and wraps her arms around cheryl from behind, pressing a kiss to her shoulder and another to her neck.

  
  


“okay come on, get dressed before you get too carried away.”

  
  


“okay fine.” toni reluctantly pulls away, and they both find their scattered pajamas from last night and redress before walking into their walk-in closet to grab their robes, but their flirty looks and comments don't stop as they get dressed.

  
  


as they descend the stairs, the sound of soft, but beautiful singing reaches their ears, and toni can’t help but smile as she races the rest of the way down and heads into the kitchen where the singing gets louder.

  
  


what she finds is lucy by the stove, singing and swaying her hips on the spot as she flips over pancakes, her braids and hair cuffs clacking loudly. toni leans against the doorframe with a dorky grin, feels cheryl creep up behind her and wrap an arm around her waist before lucy spins-

  
  


and stops short.

  
  


“oh! morning! i, uh...i thought i’d make us some breakfast, how do pancakes and bacon sound?” she says breathlessly, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment as toni chuckles and makes her way over to her sister and looks down into the pan.

  
  


“they sound...like they’re burning.” she says simply, pressing a kiss to her sister’s cheek and dodging the hand that goes to slap her with a laugh as lucy flips the pancake over with a huff.

  
  


“they are _ not _ burning, i’m just making them extra crispy! gives it more flavor!” 

  
  


“like a burnt flavor?” toni teases, winking at cheryl by the door as lucy pauses and turns to look at her with narrowed eyes and a glare.

  
  


“sit your ass down before i spit in this damn stack i’m making you! punk ass kid…” she grumbles, grinning all the same as toni giggles and makes her way to the dining table with her hand clasped in cheryl’s. lucy glances over at them with a smirk and a shake of her head. 

  
  


they look like they’ve just visited heaven, the way they’re bumping against each other and sharing  _ that  _ look…

  
  


toni suddenly jumps up and kisses cheryl quickly before she’s making her way over to lucy with a smile.

  
  


“so...need any help?” she asks, and lucy raises an eyebrow and simply shakes her head with a chuckle.

  
  


“no, i’m good, go back to loving up your girl.” lucy teases, making kissy faces and nodding towards cheryl as toni nudges her with a growl.

  
  


“shut up…” she grumbles. lucy grins wickedly and shakes her head.

  
  


“no really, you guys can continue what you started last night but not in front of me, lemme eat my breakfast first and i’ll be out of your hair-.”

  
  


“what?! i-that’s...how did you-.” toni splutters with bright red cheeks while lucy scoffs and laughs.

  
  


“please, you  _ both  _ got that after sex glow, never thought i’d see it on my own damn sister but i know it when i see it, nasty…i was in the damn room across the hall-.”

  
  


“god, i hate you!” toni whines, shoving lucy again as her older sister cackles loudly.

  
  


“what are you two laughing about over there?” cheryl calls out, looking up from her phone with a raised eyebrow as toni quickly spins around with wide eyes.

  
  


“nothing!” she says firmly, glaring back at lucy before giving her the finger. lucy rolls her eyes, but finishes off the last pancake and carries the plate full of them over to the dining table just as toni finishes loading plates in front of three chairs.

  
  


“these look absolutely divine, lucy!” cheryl says with a smile, reaching for the maple syrup that toni places on the table, and lucy looks at her with narrowed eyes before she’s nodding at cheryl with a smile.

  
  


“you’re different, you know?” she says simply. cheryl frowns in confusion. 

  
  


“what do you mean?” she asks. lucy frowns as if she’s considering her words before she begins loading pancakes onto her plate with a shake of her head. 

  
  


“when i met you, you were so...i don’t know, just upset and sad, and for the three months we spent by toni’s side, you were just scared. but now? man, it’s like...it’s like you have new life. you’re laughing and you’re talking all weird and shit-.”

  
  


“trust me, that’s how she always talks.” toni murmurs, but she looks up at cheryl with a sad smile as the red haired girl clears her throat and shrugs.

  
  


“when toni was in that coma, there wasn’t much for me to be happy about. i guess it showed in my behavior, but i never gave up on her. not for a second.” cheryl whispers, looking up at her girlfriend, who smiles back at her with tears in her eyes.

  
  


“yeah, i know...and i’m glad you didn’t.” lucy whispers back. cheryl reaches out to squeeze lucy’s shoulder gently with a reassuring smile, and toni suddenly clears her throat and jumps up from the table. she grabs three cups, goes to the fridge and pulls out some orange juice. she pours it into the three cups and makes her way back, setting one in front of lucy and cheryl before grabbing the third of the counter and falling back into her seat.

  
  


“a toast! it might not be alcohol, but it’s a toast nonetheless!” she says simply, raising her glass with a grin. lucy laughs, but follows suit, and cheryl does the same before she clears her throat and nods.

  
  


“to miracles happening, and to toni being the strongest fighter of the impossible i’ve ever known.” she says softly, looking to her girlfriend fondly. 

  
  


“i hear that...and to her forgiving soul for giving me a second chance.” lucy adds, smiling softly as toni nods at the two women before her.

  
  


“and to you two, for staying by my unconscious ass for three months straight without leaving my side. for not giving up on me...and for, i don’t know, being you. i love you both.” toni mumbles, smiling as lucy chews on the inside of the cheek and blinks back very obvious tears building in her eyes. 

  
  


“i’ll toast to that.” she says roughly, emotion clear as day in her voice, and all three of them clink their glasses together gently. 

  
  


“to new beginnings.” cheryl says with a smile, and lucy and toni look at each other fondly before they turn to cheryl.

  
  


“to new beginnings!” 

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'VE REACHED THE END!  
> EXCEPT...WELL, LOOK. ME AND BREE, WE JUST REALLY, REALLY LOVE LUCY.   
> SO UH, IT'S NOT THE END, HA, TRICKED YA!  
> MORE ONESHOTS IN THIS UNIVERSE COMING YOUR WAY, BUT FOR NOW, HERE'S THE LAST CHAPTER OF THIS LITTLE DIDDY.
> 
> ENJOY!
> 
> twitter: endofdaysforme/topazgotjuice

**three months later**

  
  


“are you ready?”

  
  


cheryl’s voice is soft in her ear, but toni topaz has never felt quite so scared despite it as she looks up at the familiar, yet somewhat unfamiliar building of pop’s chock-lit shoppe. it looks the exact same, albeit some things are more modernized, like the awnings on the windows and the door and the railings on the steps that lead up into the establishment, and there’s red and green lights and christmas trees in the parking lot, soft snow falling, but not quite coating the town of riverdale yet. 

  
  


but other than that, it is a perfect replica of what used to be.

  
  


except now, the man it’s named after is dead, along with one of it’s top customers in jughead jones, and toni has a big ugly scar on the side of her head and three months of her life spent unconscious attached to tubes and monitors and god knows what else-

  
  


“toni...take a deep breath, my love.” cheryl whispers, a hand curling around her waist as they both look up at the building that has given them so much, and has also taken so much from them. toni inhales harshly before exhaling slowly, her hand reaching almost blindly for cheryl’s, which the redhead takes without hesitation.

  
  


cheryl’s been bending over backwards for the last three months to continue veronica’s work of rebuilding pop’s, seeing as she was off to college and cheryl and toni had deferred for a year. it’s something they’d decided on the day lucy and toni reconciled, that cheryl would overlook restoring and operating the place while veronica was gone, which means she’s been an incredibly busy woman these last three months.

  
  


toni’s been helping where she can, but she hasn’t stepped foot near this place...till now.

  
  


the grand re-opening of pop’s chock-lit shoppe and the speakeasy/nightclub beneath it.

  
  


“lucy’s in there, toni...do it for _her_.” cheryl says encouragingly, giving a squeeze to her hand.

  
  


after toni and lucy had rekindled their sisterhood, toni was retelling cheryl some of the things they had talked about, including lucy’s love for performing. it was toni who gave cheryl the idea of hiring lucy to sing part time at the speakeasy, and when cheryl brought it up with veronica, she was immediately on board. they haven’t had a recurring headliner since josie left, so they thought it would be nice to bring that aspect of _la bonne nuit_ back, especially since veronica wasn’t there to put on her spontaneous performances.

  
  


toni squeezes cheryl’s hand back, drawing in another deep breath, and nods.

  
  


“okay...okay...i think i’m ready.” toni says softly, although her feet remain in place. it’s not until she feels cheryl gently tugging her hand and looks at her to see a soft smile on her face that she starts to move toward the door.

  
  


toni draws in a shaky breath as they take their first step inside the diner. it looks almost the exact same, except the personal photos that used to line the walls. it’s packed, people everywhere, filling the booths and tables, and the waitresses are rushing all over the place as they take orders and deliver food. cheryl takes their coats and hangs them on the multiple hooks on the wall. 

  
  


toni’s hands start to tremble as she and cheryl walk back towards the speakeasy entrance. toni looks to her left to the booth where she remembers all the times she and her friends would sit and eat and chat for hours and hours. she looks to her right to the counter where she and cheryl had their first unofficial date. the smallest of smiles grow on her face at the memory...that is until she looks through the opening into the kitchen.

  
  


the place where she and cheryl and kevin and fangs and reggie and veronica and archie and betty and most importantly, jughead, shared their last happy moment, all together, before everything literally collapsed around them. 

  
  


toni swears she even sees jughead standing there, looking down into the sink, watching the flames from his beanie. 

  
  


toni doesn’t know if it’s because she’s back in the place where the tragedy happened, but she’s starting to remember that day so much more clearly now. she remembers she was the one to smell the gas, but no one took it seriously after reggie’s stupid joke. she remembers how they danced so freely, without a single care in the world. she remembers how she and cheryl snuck off to that closet for a quickie. if she had known what was going to happen she never would’ve dragged cheryl into that supply closet. she smelled the gas. she should’ve known.

  
  


the closer they get to the speakeasy entrance the heavier her breathing becomes, the tighter her chest gets, the shakier her hands feel, and she knows she’s on the brink of having a panic attack.

  
  


however, as soon as the door opens, toni hears a melodic voice...lucy’s voice. she sounds beautiful. the tightness loosens, her hands steady, and her breathing slowly calms.

  
  


that’s her sister…

  
  


“t.t? everything okay?” cheryl asks softly, squeezing her hand once more as toni exhales shakily and looks at her with a smile.

  
  


“can you hear her?” she whispers in awe, and cheryl chuckles and leans in to press a red stained kiss to toni’s cheek.

  
  


“i can, but how about we get closer?” she asks, and toni nods eagerly, all her fears, all her panic forgotten as she leads cheryl towards the entrance of the speakeasy.

  
  


everything’s fine...and this is lucy’s first time performing. she won’t let a panic attack stop her from seeing her perform. 

  
  


cheryl helps her through, smiles on both their faces as they move past the line and through the door that has replaced the old telephone booth that used to act as the entrance in the old pop’s. everyone says ‘hello’ and ‘congratulations’ to cheryl as they pass, and toni finds herself looking around the place in awe.

  
  


the speakeasy has been so remodeled, she's not even sure it should classify as a speakeasy anymore. it has been completely modernized. all of the old fashioned tables, covered in that thick red cloth that used to be scattered around are gone and have been replaced with a refurbished dance floor. the once wooden bar top is now marbe, lights stringing underneath it. the chandelier has been replaced with a disco ball, the walls are no longer covered in that old looking wallpaper, and the walls are lined with new booths with black leather seats. it doesn’t look anything like the old speakeasy anymore. it’s now a full fledged nightclub and is a complete contrast to the 50s style diner just upstairs. everything has been re-done, from the floors to the ceiling, and everything in between.

  
  


and finally..there’s lucy, up on stage, wearing a black dress patterned with holes in it and elbow length gloves that match, belting out a long note so beautifully, every single person on the dancefloor is looking up at her in complete awe. 

  
  


as soon as that final note rings out, everyone begins clapping and cheering loudly, and lucy grins widely, makes eye contact with toni at the entrance, her smile growing impossibly wider before she’s nodding towards the live band off to the side of the stage and nodding to them. they begin a new song, and lucy’s soft vocals fill the speakeasy once more.

  
  


“t.t...there.” toni turns to look at cheryl in a daze and sees her pointing to the corner of the speakeasy, where toni can see all of their friends gathered around one of the booths. veronica, archie, betty, kevin, fangs, sweet pea...everyone’s there.

  
  


except one. 

  
  


toni’s heart aches, but she pushes through it and allows cheryl to pull her over to the booth where all their friends are. she’s surprised to see archie and veronica talking quite civilly, considering the two broke up about a month after they started college, the both of them finding it too difficult to do long distance with veronica in new york and archie here in riverdale at community college with fangs and sweet pea, while kevin had also gone off to new york to study musical arts. kevin and fangs have been able to make it work, but veronica and archie, well…

  
  


toni doesn’t blame them. not everyone can do long distance. but they seem to be okay, they’re talking to each other, betty also joining their conversation with a sad smile on her face…

  
  


betty had also deferred for a year with cheryl and toni, perhaps thinking it best considering she’s still mourning the loss of her long-term boyfriend, but she seems happier than toni’s seen her in awhile...perhaps since the accident even happened. 

  
  


“cheryl! toni!” veronica calls out, suddenly noticing them and making her way towards them somewhat sloppily, no doubt from the drink in her hand that sloshes around with each misstep. she comes to a stop in front of them with a giggle before she embraces them both tightly.

  
  


“it’s so good to see you two!”

  
  


“good to see you too, ronnie.” toni says with a chuckle.

  
  


“god, your sister is _amazing_! i swear, i’ve been hanging off every note she’s sung for the last hour, just an incredible voice!” veronica exclaims with a slight slur, looking up to the stage where lucy is still singing and swaying softly on the spot. 

  
  


“thanks.” toni says simply, and veronica nods with a grin that quickly fades when her eyes land on archie and betty, who are standing right next to each other, talking in hushed whispers…

  
  


_oh...that’s new._

  
  


“hmm...notice how close they’ve gotten?” veronica hiccups, looking to toni in defeat, and the pink haired girl frowns as cheryl winces and reaches out to grip her hand.

  
  


“ronnie...archie’s been helping her get past jughead’s passing-.”

  
  


“no, i know! it’s all good! i’ve got a distraction, anyway! sweet pea!” veronica calls out, grinning as sweet pea looks up from the booth they’re all sitting in and grins widely. he stands and makes his way over to them, and veronica loops her arm in his and leads him off to the dance floor. 

  
  


cheryl and toni exchange a glance, but say nothing more as toni leads cheryl towards the dance floor. she’s not particularly fazed with the relationship woes of her friends, not when her sister is up there singing her heart out to make this night special for cheryl…

  
  


the two of them cuddle up on the dancefloor, the both of them grinning and swaying into each other as lucy croons softly, and she spots cheryl and toni on the ground and sings directly to them with a wink. it’s a slow love ballad of some sort, but before cheryl and toni can begin dancing, the song ends, lucy softly letting out the last note as the live band dies down.

  
  


everyone begins cheering and clapping once more, some of them even whistling, and lucy bows before she announces:

  
  


“we’ll be back in twenty, ladies and gentlemen! please help yourselves to some drinks up at the bar!” 

  
  


some bass bumping music begins playing through the speakers at a low volume, and lucy makes her way off stage as cheryl and toni swim through the crowd congregating on the dance floor to dance to get to her. toni spots her taking a bottle of water from the hands of a girl with long blonde hair that’s pulled up into a high ponytail, her lips painted red and blue eyes shining with pride. her skin is almost as pale as cheryl’s (which is shocking to toni because she didn’t think anyone could get as pale as cheryl to be honest), and she’s wearing a blue sparkly dress with one over the shoulder sleeve. 

  
  


she’s _stunning_ , and toni knows straight away who she is. 

  
  


“luce!” toni calls out with a grin, her sister looking up at the sound of her name before her eyes widen and she swallows the water in her mouth down.

  
  


“t! come on, babe!” lucy says, taking the girl’s hand and meeting cheryl and toni halfway as they come to a stop in front of each other.

  
  


“hey! thanks so much for this, cheryl, this place looks amazing!” lucy exclaims, wrapping cheryl up in a hug that the redhead happily returns.

  
  


“my pleasure! you’re incredibly talented, lucy, and i want only the best for my nightclub!” she says with a wink. lucy chuckles and turns to toni, wraps her up in a warm hug and presses a kiss to her hair before she turns to the girl with a wide grin.

  
  


“this is claire, my girlfriend, and claire, this is cheryl, toni’s girlfriend and toni...my sister.” lucy says proudly, looking between the three of them as claire extends her hand with a wide smile.

  
  


“it’s nice to finally meet you two! lucy hasn’t shut up about you guys since she came back home all those months ago.” she teases, dodging a quick nudge from lucy as she sticks her tongue out at her.

  
  


“really?” toni says in surprise, and claire chuckles and nods.

  
  


“yeah, of course! i’m sorry it’s taken so long for us to meet, but work has just been insane, this is my first time off in months.” she says with a sigh that has toni waving her hand nonchalantly.

  
  


“well, it’s great to meet you as well. lucy has told me a lot about you, too.” she says with a grin. claire suddenly looks to lucy with a raised eyebrow. 

  
  


“all good things i hope?” claire says sternly, to which lucy’s eyes widen as she raises her hands in surrender.

  
  


“well there are only good things to say.” lucy exclaims, to which claire rolls her eyes, the both of them bouncing conversation off each other easily as claire turns to look toni up and down once more with a smile. 

  
  


“and i gotta say, you are so beautiful in person. you look just like your sister.” claire says with a grin, and toni’s about to thank her when lucy suddenly gasps dramatically and wraps an arm around claire’s waist.

  
  


“aww, thank you!” lucy exclaims, squeezing her girlfriend as claire whines with a roll of her eyes. 

  
  


“bitch shut up, i was complimenting your sister!” claire exclaims, but with a joking grin as lucy begins pattering kisses onto her cheek annoyingly. 

  
  


“you loooove me, you think i’m preeeeetty-.” lucy teases, claire still laughing as cheryl and toni watch them both with amusement. 

  
  


claire wraps her hand around her waist and squeezes her back as she leans in to press a kiss to her cheek. “fine, you are beautiful too.” she says softly, wiping away the red lipstick stain on lucy’s cheek with an adoring smile. 

  
  


“you two are so cute together.” cheryl says, watching them fondly as claire hums under her breath and looks up at the both of them with a grin.

  
  


“thank you. so are you two. lucy told me the story of how you two got together. i’ve never heard a more romantic love story in my life.” 

  
  


“yeah, we somehow managed to persevere through crazy homophobic mothers and conversion camps and crazy cults and...god, who knows what else.” toni says with a groan, looking up at cheryl as she smiles at toni with a soft laugh. 

  
  


“well, you two came out of it much stronger. that’s definitely something.” lucy says with a nod. 

  
  


“your mom and dad would be proud of you two.” claire says suddenly to lucy and toni, her tone soft, as if she knows their parents are a tough subject for them both, evident in how lucy and toni both stiffen slightly at her words before they’re both clutching their partners closer.

  
  


“thanks, babe...i hope they are.” lucy whispers. she and toni share a look, a moment of mourning before cheryl nods towards the bar.

  
  


“come on, let’s go get a drink, rest that voice of yours!” she exclaims, and lucy grins as she takes claire’s hand while cheryl drags toni away.

  
  


the four of them walk over to the bar, getting simple glasses of water first, and cheryl notions to the bartender to get glasses of the soon to be world famous maple rum, cheryl eager to hear lucy’s thoughts on the drink when suddenly, feeling good by sofi tukker comes on and both toni and lucy gasp.

  
  


“ugh i _love_ this song!” lucy exclaims.

  
  


“me too!”

  
  


lucy downs the rest of her drink in one swallow and slams her glass on the bar top before swaying towards toni. she grabs her hand and leads her to the dance floor, toni following her with a giggle while cheryl and claire watch with smiles on their faces.

  
  


“they look happy. i’m so glad they have each other again.” claire says, chuckling as she watches lucy spin toni around, the pink haired girl laughing loudly, and cheryl nods happily before she frowns with a sigh.

  
  


“toni never even told me she had a sister.” she says after a few moments, looking to claire anxiously, and to her surprise, the blonde chuckles and nods at her.

  
  


“don’t take it personally. lucy didn’t tell me, either. one second we were fine and the next, she was telling me she needed to come to riverdale because her sister might’ve been in an explosion. it was shocking to me, too. but...i get why she never said anything. i think it was too painful for the both of them.” she says softly, looking back at lucy adoringly. 

  
  


“from what lucy told me while toni was still in the hospital, i definitely understand.” cheryl says with a sigh, but it quickly dissolves into a loud laugh when she sees toni try to spin lucy too, but being shorter than her sister, she ends up failing miserably, unable to reach that high. 

  
  


lucy bursts into laughter as toni shoves her lightly with a laugh of her own. the song ends and the two girls make their way back over to their partners with wide grins on their faces. 

  
  


“well, unfortunately my 20 minutes are up, but later tonight we should head up to pops for a bite, so you all can get to know each other more?” lucy suggests breathlessly.

  
  


“yes of course we’d love that! now go! sing pretty.” toni teases and lucy playfully shoves her before hopping back on the stage.

  
  


“alright people, now we’re going to slow it down for a bit, so everyone grab that special someone.” lucy says lowly into the mic as everyone grabs a partner.

  
  


“excuse me, claire.” cheryl says with a wink at the blonde, who raises her drink at them with a laugh.

  
  


cheryl leads toni to the middle of the dance floor. she interlaces her own fingers and rests them on toni’s lower back as toni wraps her arms around cheryl’s neck. everyone is swaying around them; kevin and fangs, veronica and sweet pea, betty and archie...but cheryl and toni only have eyes for each other.

  
  


“baby?” cheryl asks and toni hums in response. “how do you feel?”

  
  


toni knows this is cheryl’s subtle way of asking her if she is okay, especially after her near panic attack she had when they first arrived. but with her girl in her arms, and her sister singing up on that stage, she never felt better.

  
  


“i’m okay...i’m happy. i’m in good health. i have my sister back in my life. and most importantly i have _you._ ” toni smiles, but cheryl can see it in her eyes. it’s not so much the almost panic attack, there’s just something _there_ that tips cheryl off.

  
  


something’s still bothering her girlfriend.

  
  


“toni, be honest with me. i know you and i know when something is bothering you.” cheryl says softly, rubbing her hands up and down toni’s lower back as the pink haired girl looks up at her with pursed lips.

  
  


“babe, i’m good, really. i want you to enjoy this night, you’ve worked so hard. i don’t want you to worry.” she whispers back, fingers fiddling with a few strands of cheryl’s hair before she’s tucking a lock behind her ear. 

  
  


“how many times do i have to tell you for it to get through your thick skull that you are my number one priority,” cheryl says lightly, causing toni to laugh. “we’re in this together, so tell me what's going on.” she reassures her, leaning in to rest her forehead against toni’s gently.

  
  


it’s quiet for a few moments before toni licks her lips and pulls back with a heavy sigh. 

  
  


“it’s just...i don't know maybe it’s because we’re back here, but i just can’t help but think...i still can’t believe i lost three months of my life.” toni says, chewing on the inside of her cheek anxiously and looking up at her girlfriend, and to her surprise, cheryl is smiling. 

  
  


“i know, baby. but look what it brought you. you and lucy are back together.” cheryl says with an even wider smile, nodding her head towards the stage, and toni follows her gaze.

  
  


her eyes land on lucy, who is singing passionately, her voice filling up the club with such beautiful noise, it’s hard not to enter a trance hearing her sing. toni blinks back tears as lucy meets her eyes, and she smiles widely and winks at her sister before she’s belting out another note loudly, but harmonically. 

  
  


“yeah…” toni murmurs, eyes almost glazed over watching her sister sing before she finally manages to tear her gaze away and look up at cheryl with a smile. “you know how people say there’s a reason for everything?” 

  
  


“yeah.”

  
  


“well...what if everything that happened, the accident, me going into a coma...what if it all happened so lucy would come back. what if this was supposed to happen for us to be in each other's lives again. what if this was his plan all along?”

  
  


“who’s plan?” cheryl asks, tilting her head in confusion.

  
  


“God’s...whoever is up there...i don’t know, you know i’m not really religious but i’ve just been thinking.”

  
  


“no, i get it. sometimes things happen that are so unexplainable, we can’t help but wonder if maybe there is something more at play than just humans and decisions and...life.” cheryl says with a chuckle, nodding in agreement as toni smiles and leans up to kiss the corner of her mouth tenderly.

  
  


“this is why you’re my soulmate, cheryl blossom. i don’t even need to explain my reasonings, you just-.”

  
  


“get it. i know, i feel the same.” cheryl whispers, pulling toni impossibly closer. the both of them just take a moment to feel each other, bodies pressed together as lucy’s voice continues to echo out to them melodically. 

  
  


and with the love of her life in her arms and her long lost sister on the stage, singing a love ballad that seems to apply just perfectly to them…

  
  


yeah, despite the three month long coma and the scar on the side of her head, toni feels like the luckiest girl in the whole damn world.  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone. we hope you're all keeping safe and sane during this quarantine. wash your hands and hang in there, guys. 
> 
> here's another chapter. not gonna lie, despite being home with nothing to do, it's hard to find the motivation to write during all of this, but we're trying our best. chapters are gonna be slow across the board, for both myself (Maria) and Bree's fics, but please don't hold it against us. despite having all the time in the world to write now, you also have to remember we're now stressing about what's happening in the real world, and that takes precedence over fic writing. we hope you can understand.
> 
> anyway, we hope you like this chapter. we love writing Lucy too much to let her go and we have more planned for her. these next few chapters aren't really in any chronological order, but they're just little extra chapters into how toni adjusts to having her sister back. leave us a comment letting us know what you think. <3

toni topaz has never particularly considered herself a ‘lucky’ person. her life before certain events wouldn’t be subjective or indicative of being ‘lucky’...parents forcing her and her sister out of her hometown to live in a strange city due to fear...said fear coming true and her parents being hunted down and killed...herself and her sister, forced to live on the streets with no food or money and just each other, until her sister made the decision to take her back to her hometown to live with an uncle who wanted nothing to do with her…and when life finally started to hand her something good, something  _ great _ in the form of cheryl blossom...an explosion. one that left her in a goddamn impossible and irreversible coma for three fucking months. 

  
  


so, yes...luck has not been on the side of toni topaz for her short eighteen years of life on this planet, but then: she wakes up from that fucking impossible and irreversible coma, her long lost sister who she spent seven years thinking was dead comes back and fixes the relationship between them and suddenly, she has it all: a beautiful, loving girlfriend, a doting sister and a future to look forward to.

  
  


nothing’s so bleak anymore. not when she has it like this-

  
  


“mmm, i’ve lost you. are you so involved in your own thoughts, you’ve forgotten how to dance, my love?” cheryl blossom’s soft voice fills her left ear, and toni just feels a wave of calm wash over her at the sound of it. 

  
  


“haven’t forgotten...just like holding you sometimes.” toni murmurs back, her head falling to press a kiss between the space of cheryl’s shoulder and neck before she’s holding her impossibly closer and breathing in the scent of cherry perfume and vanilla shampoo. 

  
  


“remind me how i got so lucky to fall in love and be loved in return with someone as amazing as you, t.t?” cheryl whispers, and toni can’t help but smile, because here she is thinking about luck and cheryl just seems to be on the same wavelength without even trying. 

  
  


soulmates are such fickle things sometimes.

  
  


before she has a chance to answer, the voice currently flooding the speaker system of the nightclub they’re in that is now empty at two thirty in the morning suddenly grows louder when:

  
  


_ “ooooooooh, youuuuuung looooooooveeeee!”  _

  
  


cheryl laughs loudly in her ear as toni rolls her eyes and pulls away from her girlfriend to see none other than her sister, lucy topaz, swaying on the spot and looking to the two of them with puppy dog eyes, sarcasm dripping in her voice as she sings-

  
  


“ _ looooook at my sisteeeeeer...sheeeeeee’s a dooooooork.” _

  
  


toni flicks lucy off with both of her hands causing the song bird to laugh into the microphone. the slow music continues to play as cheryl holds toni from behind like a prom pose and sways side to side.

  
  


“ _ sheeee’s sooooo soooooft.” _

  
  


“i’m not soft. i’m a badass,” toni pouts, sticking her tongue out at her sister.

  
  


“you sure are my love.” cheryl coos. she presses a kiss to toni’s cheek and toni can’t help the mushy smile that grows on her face from the action, as she sinks into cheryl’s embrace.

  
  


“ _ she’s whipped...she’s whipped...she’s whipped…”  _ lucy sings over and over as she sways from side to side while snapping her fingers. and after the fourth repetition, lucy’s girlfriend, claire, hops on the stage and joins lucy in teasing toni.

  
  


“would you two shut the fuck up! if anybody is a dork it’s you two!” toni shouts with a slight pout on her face as the couple on stage bursts into laughter. cheryl chuckles into toni’s neck, pulling her closer as lucy and claire start chanting  _ ‘she’s whipped’  _ again.

  
  


so toni figured… if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

  
  


“well of course i’m whipped… i mean look at her.” toni pulls away from cheryl’s embrace and grabs her wrist to spin her around.

  
  


cheryl spins happily with a chuckle before:

  
  


_ “they’re both sooooo whipped-.” _

  
  


“alright, enough, let’s close this place and head upstairs for breakfast!” toni barks, throwing her hands up in defeat as lucy laughs and eventually turns the microphone off, placing it in the stand once more. 

  
  


ten minutes later, once cheryl has sent the bartender home and claire, lucy and toni have helped her clean the place up a bit, they’re making their way up the staircase to the diner. there’s only one cook working, considering there’s no one in the diner this early in the morning despite it being open twenty four hours a day, and cheryl grins at arturo and asks him to just make four breakfast platters, which he happily hops up to do, clearly bored out of his mind. 

  
  


claire ends up sitting in lucy’s lap at one of the booths, and toni slides in opposite them and simply cocks an eyebrow before muttering, “and you say i’m whipped!” to them, which then results in toni and lucy flipping each other off repeatedly in creative ways while claire rolls her eyes and grabs a piece of french toast that cheryl slides onto their table once she’s done ordering for them. 

  
  


“you two are children.”

  
  


“we’re catching up on years of missed opportunities to torment each other!” toni exclaims, grinning widely as lucy flips her off one last time and grabs her own piece of french toast while claire rips off a piece and throws it right at toni’s head.

  
  


“hey!”

  
  


“no tormenting my girlfriend, thank you!” she huffs, and toni looks to cheryl…

  
  


who takes the piece of bread from where it landed on the table and pops it into her mouth with a shrug.

  
  


“wooooow, doesn’t even defend me…” toni grumbles, sinking back into the booth and crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. 

  
  


“sorry, my love, lucy’s our headliner and if i lose her, i lose business.” cheryl teases. lucy grins widely.

  
  


“see?  _ headliner.  _ that’s something i like to hear.” she says somewhat proudly, and even toni is smiling at those words as claire presses a kiss to lucy’s cheek with a chuckle.

  
  


“see? told you that voice of yours would get you far.” 

  
  


“mmm, reeled you in, didn’t it?” lucy says softly, grinning up at her girlfriend before they lean in to share a soft kiss, one that has toni fake retching.

  
  


“get a room!”

  
  


“shut up, t!” lucy scoffs as she throws another piece of bread at her sister, resulting in another bread fight.

  
  


“alright alright, let's not waste this delicious food that arturo prepared for us.” cheryl says, although smiling fondly at the playful laughter between the sisters.

  
  


“but seriously red, i can't thank you enough for this sweet gig-”

  
  


“oh stop that. if anything  _ we’re  _ thankful for  _ you.”  _

  
  


“let’s not forget whose idea this was.” toni speaks up as a matter of factly.

  
  


“thank you too...buttercup.” lucy says with a smirk. toni’s eyes widen.

  
  


“whoa...flashback.” she says with a chuckle.

  
  


“wait, ‘buttercup’?” cheryl questions, and toni shakes her head, but lucy grins wickedly.

  
  


“toni went through a bit of an obsession with the powerpuff girls when we were kids and refused to be called ‘toni’ for like a solid year. me and mom and dad would call out to her and she wouldn’t respond until we called her ‘buttercup’.” lucy guffaws. toni’s cheeks turn bright red as she sinks into the booth once more.

  
  


“whatever, it was a cool show!” she grumbles. cheryl finds herself staring at her girlfriend fondly, the image of a six year old toni with puffy cheeks and brown curls refusing to even answer anyone without being called her favorite name has her heart melting, but before she can say anything, toni’s pointing at lucy accusingly. “you thought you were a ninja turtle for like three months straight!” 

  
  


lucy’s grin fades and claire looks at her girlfriend with a wicked smile.

  
  


“a ninja turtle, huh?! which one?” she asks innocently, but her eyes are filled with mischief as lucy licks her lips in hesitation before she sighs in defeat.

  
  


“donatello…” she murmurs. claire’s lips are pursed, clearly hiding laughter before she pinches one of lucy’s cheeks.

  
  


“god...you’re such a dork.” she breathes, her laughter getting the better of her when lucy grips her waist and pries her off her lap with a huff. 

  
  


“alright, alright, no more embarrassing stories! now, come on, t, what are you gonna do about college once this year deferment is up? you gonna go ahead with it?” lucy asks sternly just as arturo brings over four plates full of piping hot breakfast foods to their table. they thank him as toni flinches at the question.

  
  


“well um…” toni hesitates as she takes a sip of her water. “i actually don’t know.” she says slowly. lucy pauses and looks up at her with wide eyes.

  
  


“what do you mean you don’t know?” lucy asks as she bites into a piece of bacon. toni lets out a heavy sigh.

  
  


“i just mean i don’t know. i mean… i lost three months of life, and it was a miracle that i even woke up. i just don’t know if i wanna spend four years stuck in classrooms.” toni says with a shrug.

  
  


“this is the first i’ve heard this.” cheryl says but not in an accusatory tone, looking to her girlfriend with surprise.

  
  


“i’m not saying anything is final, like i said i don’t know.” toni says simply.

  
  


“what’s making you question going?” claire asks as she also digs into her food while toni just plays with hers.

  
  


“i don’t know, i just... i feel like i’ve been given a second chance at life and i just want to live it. plus i’ve been thinking about stepping up in the serpents. i’ve been apart from my family for so long and i want to help out more, especially with jughead gone and f.p still dealing with that, they need help in the leadership department-”

  
  


“family?” lucy scoffs. “what am i, chopped liver?” she says through slightly bared teeth. toni’s eyes soften and she quickly shakes her head.

  
  


“no, luce, of course not, but the serpents are my family, too. come on, we’ve gone over this a hundred times-.”

  
  


“doesn’t mean i have to like it.” lucy says stiffly, throwing the piece of bacon in her hand onto her plate in frustation.

  
  


“lucy the serpents aren’t as bad as you think. they’ve-”

  
  


“i know what they’ve done for you, toni. but i’m here now. you’ve got family,  _ real _ right here! what do you need the serpents for?” lucy exclaims. cheryl feels toni stiffen up beside her. 

  
  


“lucy, you’re my sister and i love you, but this hatred you have for the serpents has to end. you do realize by hating them you hate me, too?” toni says through slightly clenched teeth, clearly trying to keep her anger at bay. lucy scoffs again.

  
  


“no, that’s bullshit and you know it! i don’t hate you, toni, and hating the serpents doesn’t mean hating you! you seem to keep forgetting that they got mom and dad killed-.”

  
  


“how many times do i have to tell you!? they didn’t get mom and dad killed! f.p tried to tell dad to stay, tried to tell him that the serpents could keep me and you and mom safe, but he wouldn’t listen!” toni hisses. claire and cheryl exchange an awkward glance as lucy bangs a fist on the table with a grunt.

  
  


“i don’t wanna discuss this anymore! you gotta pull your head out of your ass and realize that the serpents won’t be around forever! you gotta go to college, you gotta have the life mom and dad dreamed of you having! the life they died trying to give you!” lucy growls, anger blazing in her eyes as toni scoffs and shakes her head.

  
  


“they died because they fucked up on a job and got the ghoulies on their backs! they weren’t trying to give me anything!” toni says stiffly.

  
  


lucy’s eyes widen before her fist clenches tightly-

  
  


“baby, hey, come on, just calm down-.” claire starts, her hand wrapping around lucy’s wrist as panic shines in her eyes before lucy shrugs her off and jumps up from the table. 

  
  


“they died saving your life!  _ our  _ lives! mom shoved me out that damn window with you in my arms and held them off so we could escape and this is how you wanna repay her? by insulting her and saying she did  _ nothing  _ for you? call me when your damn attitude changes, toni, because right now, looking at you...i don’t even see my sister. i just see a stranger.” lucy hisses, and toni’s jaw clenches, but cheryl can see the guilt in her eyes. she doesn’t say a word, and lucy scoffs before she’s storming out of pop’s diner completely, claire looking between toni and cheryl anxiously before she jumps up with a sigh.

  
“i...i’m sorry.” she says simply, making her way out of the diner after her girlfriend. 

  
  


cheryl doesn’t say a word. she sits there and watches, waits until toni’s breathing regulates and her hands unclench, leaving her skin red from the nail marks. she exhales shakily, and cheryl takes that as her cue to reach out and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

  
  


“t.t.?” she says simply, a sad sigh escaping her when toni turns to look at her with tears in her eyes.

  
  


“i wasn’t...i wasn’t trying to say that they were bad parents, they weren’t, but the serpents...they’ve been there for me for so long, i can’t just abandon them-.”

  
  


“i know, baby...i know. but remember, to lucy, the serpents are just the gang that her parents were apart of, she doesn’t know them as they are. she just remembers them as the people who indirectly got her parents killed-.”

  
  


“they had nothing to do with it! that’s what she doesn’t get! mom and dad fucked up on the mission! not the serpents!” toni growls, and before cheryl can say anything, toni jumps up and shakes her head with a sigh.

  
  


“look, i...can we just go home? i don’t wanna talk about this anymore.” 

  
  


“toni-.”

  
“please, cheryl? i’m exhausted, let’s just go home.” toni says firmly, and cheryl hesitates before she’s sighing and dropping a twenty dollar bill on the table and holding her hand out for toni to take.

  
  


“okay...let’s go home then.” 

  
  


\--

  
  


it’s safe to assume that last night was extremely awkward. what started as a lovely evening of drinks and dancing and sisters goofing around ended in a huge fight that caused one sister to storm out and the other to shed silent tears the entire car ride home.

  
  


and cheryl hates going to bed when there is any tension, even if the tension isn’t between them. but that is what happened last night. cheryl had asked toni if she wanted to talk, toni said no, and cheryl dropped it, knowing when not to push her. 

  
  


but she hated it.

  
  


she knows it’s normal for siblings to fight, but she hated seeing toni and lucy fight, especially when they just got back into each other's lives, and over a topic that is still so sensitive for both of them. 

  
  


cheryl just wants everyone to be happy after such a trying time last year.

  
  


cheryl lay on her side, watching toni sleep, their faces only inches away. cheryl wants to reach out and stroke her finger down the bridge of her nose, wants to kiss her pouty lips, but refrains, not sure if she’s still in a mood. so she just watches her until she starts to wake up on her own.

  
  


she watches as her eyebrows twitch, her breathing goes uneven, and her head digs deeper into her pillow. she puffs out a breath through her nose and grunts silently, almost inaudibly, as her eyes start to flutter open, and a few seconds later cheryl is staring right into those brown eyes, gentle and warm. 

  
  


for a while it’s silent, the two just staring at each other, cheryl allowing toni to fully wake up before cheryl is the first to break the silence.

  
  


“morning,” she says airily.

  
  


“morning,” toni replies, her voice raspy.

  
  


cheryl wants to kiss her good morning, and she knows toni can tell, because the pink haired girl leans in and cheryl meets her half way for a pillowy light kiss. cheryl smiles as they pull away slowly.

  
  


“sorry for brushing you off last night, i was just so mad and didn’t want to take my anger out on you.” toni murmurs, eyes casting downwards guiltily.

  
  


“it’s okay. do you want to talk about it?” cheryl asks softly as she curls a piece of hair behind toni’s ear. toni lets out a shaky sigh before she looks up at cheryl sadly. 

  
  


“i just...i still can’t believe lucy said that to me last night. to call me a stranger? she doesn’t get to just hop back into my life, and judge me for caring about the people that were there for me when she wasn’t. and i heard you last night, cher, i know she doesn’t know them the way i do, but she’s not even trying to give them a chance. she always throws our parents death in my face every chance she gets, like she's trying to make me feel guilty for being a serpent. it’s not fair.” toni says softly, but with a hint of anger, eyes blazing as cheryl inches closer and wraps an arm around her waist. 

  
  


“i know, baby. i know it’s not fair. and i’m not taking her side, you know i’m always on your side no matter what, nor am i trying to justifying what she said to you but...for all of lucy’s life she’s always connected your parents death to the serpents. and she’s held on to that resentment since she was sixteen. it can’t be easy for her to come back and see you as a serpent. it also can’t be easy for her to accept that it was your parents fault they died, and maybe she just needs someone to blame.” cheryl explains slowly. toni purses her lips and nods once before she rolls over onto her back with a sigh, a hand coming to rest onto her forehead. 

  
  


“i get it baby, i really do. i just wish she wouldn’t try to guilt trip me for being a serpent when she hasn’t even been here.”

  
  


“i know baby, i know.” cheryl coos as she scratches gently at the back of toni’s neck, knowing it helps keep her calm.

  
  


“are you hungry?” cheryl asks, deciding to change the subject and when toni nods, cheryl leans in and pecks her lips before they both hop out of bed.

  
  


the day passes without a word from lucy, and when cheryl texts claire to ask if they’re okay, the girl simply sends her a thumbs up emoji. cheryl’s not sure if claire is upset with toni, too, considering she upset lucy last night, and cheryl just wishes everyone would talk it out, but considering her own family was never good in that department, she can’t exactly fault the sisters for wanting some space.

  
  


however, hope seems to finally pass through when, at lunch time, with cheryl and toni seated at the dining table having lunch, their doorbell rings.

  
  


“i got it,” cheryl says as she stands from her chair.

  
  


she walks down the hallway up to the front door and she opens it to reveal lucy, already wearing a look of guilt on her face, eyes red like she’s been crying all morning, which she likely has.

  
  


“uh...hi.” cheryl greets somewhat awkwardly.

  
  


“hi, good morning.” lucy rasps out as she fiddles with the ends of her long sleeves. “may i come in?”

  
  


“of course. toni’s in the dining room.” cherl says, already knowing the reason why lucy is here. she opens the door wider to allow lucy to enter and she leads her down the hall back into the dining room.

  
  


“baby, your sister is here.” cheryl announces as she walks up to the table and lucy appears from behind her. toni’s face hardens immediately as she sets her fork down on the plate. 

  
  


“what are you doing here?” toni crosses her arm and leans back in her chair, but cheryl can see the look of conflict in her eyes.

  
  


“i...i came to apologize.” lucy rasps out, scuffing her foot on the ground. it’s quiet for a few moments before-

  
  


“you called me a stranger, lucy. you don't get to say shit to me like that then show up at my house thinking an apology will just make that okay.” toni says firmly.

  
  


“do you want me to leave you alone?” cheryl interjects a little awkwardly. 

  
  


“no, you can stay. anything she has to say to me she can say in front of you, too.” toni says without taking her eyes off her sister, and cheryl sits back down in her chair as toni glares at lucy angrily.

  
  


“toni, i’m sorry. i should’ve never said that to you.” lucy croaks out, but cheryl can see her shoulders trembling as if she’s holding back tears. 

  
  


toni scoffs out a laugh.

  
  


“no, you were right. you haven’t been in my life for what, seven years now? you don’t know me at all. you’ve clearly made up your mind about my family so i might as well be a stranger.” toni’s words are harsh, and cheryl frowns as she sees lucy still unable to look up at toni, but she sees the tear that falls down to the ground and splashes against the tiles. 

  
  


“toni, i didn’t mean that, really i didn’t. i just...i don’t understand how you can be apart of the gang that got-”

  
  


“STOP!” toni suddenly snaps, jumping up from her chair angrily and causing both cheryl and lucy to flinch. “just stop saying that, lucy! stop reminding me every five fucking minutes that our parents were killed, and stop blaming the serpents! i know you’re pissed that they are gone, hell i’m pissed too, but you have got to accept the fact that it wasn’t the serpent's fault that mom and dad are dead. sure, maybe being a part of a gang is what led them there but it was the choices  _ they  _ made that got them killed. and i know you may not want to accept it but the serpents were there for me when you weren’t! you don’t get to come back here after all these years and judge me for being one. and fucking stop trying to make me feel guilty by throwing our parents death in my face every chance you get!”

  
  


toni’s words reverberate throughout the entire kitchen, and lucy is looking at her with point blank shock as she swallows thickly and shakes her head. 

  
  


“i’m not-”

  
  


“you are lucy! you are! mom and dad are gone, okay! they’re gone! and whether i’m a serpent or not isn’t going to bring them back so stop trying to make me feel guilty about it! mom and dad are  _ dead _ , you have to accept that-”

  
  


“I KNOW!” lucy screams, her whole body trembling as toni steps back in surprise, and lucy’s bottom lip quivers before she falls into the chair across from toni. she slams her elbows onto her thighs and drops her head into her hands, sniffling back tears, but it isn’t long before she’s full blown sobbing into them.

  
  


toni watches from her side of the table as lucy cries into her hands, and her face gradually softens as she watches her shoulders shake. eventually she sighs and drops down to her knees beside her sister. 

  
  


“luce…” 

  
  


“it h-hurts, t...it hurts s-so much-.” lucy chokes out, and toni doesn’t let her say another word. she grips her wrists and she pulls the crying girl into her arms, holding onto her tightly as lucy cries into her shoulder, toni’s own tears welling in her eyes.

  
  


“i’m sorry.” lucy mumbles into her shoulder.

  
  


“i know, it’s okay, shh…” 

  
  


cheryl, feeling like the two sisters needed a minute alone, stands from her chair and leaves the dining room. she rubs toni’s back on her way out to let her know she’s leaving, and that she’s just in the other room if she needs anything, and toni simply looks up at her with tears in her eyes and a nod. 

  
  


after a few minutes, lucy pulls away and wipes her tears away with the palms of her hands.

  
  


“toni, i’m so sorry. i never meant to make you f-feel guilty.”

  
  


“i know you didn’t mean to, but you did. and when you said i was a stranger, it really hurt my feelings.” toni says, her voice much more gentle than it was mere moments ago.

  
  


“i didn’t mean that. i just…” lucy trails off, not even sure of what to say.

  
  


“look, luce, you’re my family, my blood, and i love you. but the serpents are my family too and if you really love me and care about me as your sister then you would support me. and i know how you feel about them but forget about the serpents, just support _ me. _ that’s all i need. i can’t get through life knowing you don’t support what i’m doing...i already spent seven years without you, i don’t wanna spend anymore.” toni says, tucking a lock of hair behind lucy’s ear gently, but lucy catches her hand with a shake of her head.

  
  


“t...losing mom and dad was rough, and it hurts every fucking day that they’re not here, but i can’t lose you, too. i just...i think of those days in that shitty apartment, and i think about how dad used to get mad when the tv wouldn’t work and we’d re-enact scenes from tv shows in the living room to entertain him, and i remember how we’d laugh so hard we were crying...and i remember that we don’t have that anymore because of what happened. and maybe it was mom and dad’s fault, maybe the serpents could’ve protected us from it all, but you...you can’t g-get mad at me for remembering the g-good times and being sad that they’re gone-.”

  
  


“i know, luce...i’m sad they’re gone, too. every day…” toni whispers. lucy swallows thickly before she looks up at toni sadly. 

  
  


“you found a family again in the serpents. and fuck, i’m happy you did, toni, but me? i spent... _ years _ , all alone. i didn’t find another family. i just had me. and then i found claire, and fuck, yeah, i got lucky there, but then i found you again, and suddenly you have another family? suddenly you keep talking about them like they’re it for you, and it just hurts, that’s all, it just hurts.” lucy whispers. 

  
  


toni shakes her head and takes lucy’s face into her hands gently.

  
  


“they’re my family. but so are you. but you’re blood, lucy. you’re my fucking  _ sister.  _ when it comes down to it, you come first. and fuck, maybe that breaks serpent code, but i don’t care. you’re my family, first and foremost. that hasn’t changed, not from the day i was born and you held me for the first time, okay?” lucy smiles at that, and before toni can do anything, lucy’s pulling her into a bone crushing hug, one that has her gasping slightly for air, but also has her grinning as she buries her face into her sister’s shoulder. 

  
  


“i remember i told mom to name you after my imaginary friend, because to me, you were her coming to life. still can’t believe she agreed to it.” lucy mumbles with a chuckle. toni raises an eyebrow.

  
  


“wait...your imaginary friend’s name was ‘toni’?” she asks with a laugh. lucy pulls away and stares at toni for a second fondly before she wipes away toni’s tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. 

  
  


“no, her name was antoinette. and she had pink hair, too. remember, i told you-.”

  
  


“you had a friend who had pink hair, and when you told me, i became obsessed with the idea. shit…” toni says in awe, and lucy laughs softly before she sniffs and leans in to press a kiss to toni’s brow.

  
  


“she was the perfect imaginary friend...and you’re the perfect sister.” toni rolls her eyes and wipes away the tears from lucy’s cheeks. 

  
  


“so are you, stupid.” toni says and the two of them chuckle. lucy lets out a shaky sigh and takes toni’s hands, squeezing them gently. 

  
  


“so we’re good?” lucy asks cautiously. toni smiles. 

  
  


“yeah. sisters fight. but i love you no matter what.” toni reassures her. 

  
  


“good. i love you too, buttercup. and listen, i know how much the serpents mean to you. i may not support them but i support  _ you, _ so i promise i will try to accept them as your family.” lucy says slowly, her jaw still clenching in anger, but toni can see the effort in her eyes as she smiles and nods once. 

  
  


“thank you luce, that really means a lot to me.” toni says as she pulls lucy into another hug.

  
  


“i see hugging. does that mean everything is okay?” cheryl asks as she reenters the dining room with a wide grin on her face. 

  
  


“yeah, we’re good now.” toni says with a roll of her eyes, and cheryl leans against the doorframe and crosses her arms over her chest with a smirk.

  
  


“good, ‘cause i have to say that was pretty awkward just sitting there listening to you two yell at each other.” she murmurs. lucy grins widely as toni shakes her head and shrugs.

  
  


“topaz charm. we wanna kill each other one second and love each other the next. get used to it, baby.”

  
  


“oh, i already have. or have you forgotten that moment in the speakeasy-.” cheryl starts before toni’s cutting her off with frantic wide eyes.

  
  


“HA, so not talking about this!” 

  
  


“why, what happened at the speakeasy?” lucy asks with confusion. cheryl grins, and toni facepalms.

  
  


“probably best you don’t hear the details of that…” 

  
  


lucy looks back and forth between them before-

  
  


“oh, you two are nasty, in a damn club!?” 

  
  


“hey, don’t look at me, she started it!” toni says, pointing an accusing finger at cheryl.

  
  


“you reached for the zipper of my shirt-.”

  
  


“andddd i’m out!” lucy jumps up and makes her way out of the kitchen with a shake of her head, and cheryl laughs softly before she makes her way over to toni and leans down to press a kiss to her cheek.

  
  


“i’m glad you two worked things out.” she whispers. toni smiles at her happily.

  
  


“it’s how we work. we fight, we ignore each other, we yell and then we hug it out. we’ll be fine, baby.”

  
  


“mmm, good.” cheryl tucks a finger under toni’s chin to lift her face so she can kiss her properly, but after placing a loving kiss to her lips, she pulls away and-

  
  


“you started it in the speakeasy, don’t lie.”

  
  


“i did not, that was _you!_ ” 

  
  



End file.
